Ichor Drinker Chronicles: Lightning Thief
by NaruAndHarrHaremFan
Summary: An ancient being who wishes to fade. A young boy destined for greatness. A mother who wants nothing more than to protect her child. This is the tale of one Perseus Jackson, the Ichor Drinker! Strong/Vampire-like-Creature/Perseus PJ/Eventual Harem
1. Chapter 1 The Deal

Update 10/27: This chapter and the three currently uploaded have been re-beta'd by Joe Lawyer the best beta anyone could ask for. For those who see this and wonder when the next update will be don't worry, the next chapter should be up by sunday.

AN: This is my first PJ story. Its based off of one of my challenges that I have on my profile. I hope you all enjoy it as much as fans of my HP story enjoy S2ndC! In this story I'll be following canon, some what. There will be different deaths, enemies, and who knows what else. Also shout out to GreenGrizzly for being the beta for this. Without you this story would never have happend!

WARNING!: This story will contain violence(maybe gore), bad language, future harem and lemons!

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August 24, a day that could only be described as hot and miserable. With shadows few and far between and a lack of any sort of breeze, there was no reprieve for those who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside on this most sweltering of days.

The sidewalks were packed with pushing and shoving people. The heat causing them to abandon any type of social protocol they would normally have. Trying their hardest to make it to their destination, and out of the scorching heat as fast as they could. Not noticing, nor caring how rude and selfish they seemed.

If an individual had been able to stand the heat long enough to sit back and watch all those who were passing by, they would have seen the various attempts used by the populace to try and lessen the effects of the sun. Hats and umbrellas used for shade, newspapers and legal documents turned into makeshift fans, and dress shirts or blouses with buttons undone farther than most would be comfortable with on any other day. They would have also seen how each of every one of these attempts was rendered meaningless against Apollo's Domain.

So it came as no surprise that all the self-absorbed individuals, who were worried about their own well being, paid no attention to the young woman and the bundle in her arms. That woman was Sally Jackson, and the bundle in her arms was the form of her less than a week old son, Perseus Jackson.

Like all the others on this day, Sally was in a rush, but unlike those who were trying to get somewhere, she was trying to get away and protect her bundled child.

Why, you might ask did she have her new born baby wrapped up on such a hot day? The reason being, she was trying to hide the scent he was giving off and the trouble it would undoubtedly bring with it.

For you see, Percy was what was known as a demigod: a child born of one mortal parent and one godly. All demigods gave off a scent that calls out to monsters who crave the flesh of those of godly descent. And while most demigods gave off only a very faint scent after just being born (and some even as they grew older); Perseus wasn't most demigods.

He was in fact a child of Poseidon. And from what the Ruler of the Sea had told Sally on the day of Percy's birth, a demigod who had the potential to wield more power than any other previously born demigod child ever had.

That's why Sally was in a panic as she attempted to hide his scent. Poseidon had assured her she would not have to worry about his scent drawing any monsters for a few years. But now, only days after he had left her life for good, she had seen a woman following her as she and Perseus had exited a convenient store. What had alerted her about the women being a threat to her child were the red slits she had for eyes, and the long forked tongue that had tasted the air.

As soon as Sally had seen the woman's features, she had dropped the baby bag that had been on her shoulder and took off at a dead sprint. Pausing only long enough to grab the blanket she used to lay Perseus on when changing his diapers and a bottle of spring water.

Sally carefully and rapidly elbowed people out of her way, using the same arm Perseus was in to do so, while she used her free hand to hastily wrap him in his baby blanket.

Knowing that the combined heat of the sun and the blanket could result in her child having a heat stroke, or outright kill him, she would pour small amounts of water on his head, every few seconds. Each time the cool liquid would make contact with Peruses naturally tan skin, a burst of giggles would escape him, and his sea-green eyes would light up with joy.

'He is his father's son.' Sally thought blissfully, momentarily forgetting the danger both she and her child were in.

The sound of tires screeching to a halt and the blaring of a car horn shook off her happy thoughts.

Without noticing, she had walked out in front of an expensive looking car. Its driver yelling at her, not caring that she had a baby in her arms as he made rude hand gestures at her.

Uncaring, those who had stopped at the crosswalk behind her, paid the almost run over mother and child no mind.

She felt her already rapidly beating heart speed up at the thought of having almost gotten them both killed by her carelessness.

Glancing behind her, she could see the red eyed being, almost an entire block away smiling at her, its tongue out dancing like a cobra. The monster was lazily following her, its snake-like eyes focused on the bundle in her arms.

Praying that someone out there was rooting for her, Sally raced across the road dodging the still moving traffic. She ignored the blaring car horns and the obscenities the angry drivers were sending her way as she made it to the other side.

Even though she had made it safely to the other side, she continued to run. Taking lefts, and rights, and once or twice doubling back, doing all in her power to lose the monster tracking Perseus' scent.

Sooner than Sally had anticipated, she had lost the creature that had been chasing them. Checking the street address, she found herself being only a street over from a subway station. Feeling that it would be safer on a moving object and hoping she would have time to come up with a plan on what to do next, she cut through an alley that would lead her to the sub-station.

Sally was halfway through the alley, the stairs leading down to the subway in her sights, when a tall form entered the alleyway from the direction she was headed. At first she was sure that the monster had finally caught up to her and Perseus, but after a few seconds relief flooded through her as she realized the form belonged to that of a tall man.

Her momentary relief aside, Sally was smart enough to keep a wary eye on the man. As they drew closer to one another, she drank in his features.

As it had been obvious from the moment he had entered the alley, the man was extremely tall and broad shouldered, his height only being an inch short of 7'. He had long brown hair that hung in his young, handsome face, stopping just below his square jaw with what looked to be a single eagle feather braided at his temple into the one strand of hair that was longer than all the rest.

If she had to guess his age, she would have placed him in his early twenties, though it was hard to tell with how big he was.

When he was only a few feet away, the giant of a man glanced up, stopping Sally where she stood as his intense, burnt-orange eyes met her constantly changing ones.

At that moment Sally knew it was too late, she had carried her baby right to his death. She'd never be able to outrun whatever it was that now stood before her.

Whimpering as unshed tears made their way to her eyes; she slowly started backing away from the imposing figure.

"Please, don't hurt my baby." Sally begged, looking into his eyes, her voice trembling with heartbreak. "I'll do anything you ask of me, anything at all. Just leave my baby alone."

The unidentified man tilted his head to the side as if he was studying her with those sunset colored eyes, but remained silent. Slowly, a smirk made its way to his lips that had Sally more afraid than she had ever been before in her entire life.

Those strange colored eyes of his held pain in them that no twenty-something year old should have. His smirk, which could be described as playful, screamed of insanity and if she wasn't mistaken... boredom. But the worst part of it all was the fact that even though she knew he was going to kill her and her child, she felt an attraction to him.

The tall stranger opened his mouth to speak, but at the same moment two things happened.

The first, being Sally getting a look at his canine teeth. Both were longer than any humans could ever naturally be, though they weren't so long that had a mortal seen them, they would have drawn any sort of suspicion to their owner.

As Sally focused on the stranger's canines, the women with red eyes had turned into the alley at a dead sprint. As she approached, a deep, monstrous growl left her throat, shaking the concrete and brick walls with the power behind her vocal-cords.

Both the stranger and Sally turned to face the rapidly approaching monster, the latter jumping in shock as she pulled Perseus closer to her bosom.

"Delphyne," said the orange eyed man in a silky, yet bored voice. Sally who was already close to having a nervous breakdown, jumped again at hearing him speak. "A half-human, half-dragon maiden, who was originally slain by Apollo."

Sally stared wide-eyed at the man who was giving her a history lesson as the part dragon creature charged at them. Not knowing what else to do, Sally released a small, hysterical sounding laugh at the absurdity of the moment.

"If you'll give me one second young lady, I'll take care of this unsightly weakling." He told her as he started to walk toward the snarling dragon-maiden, who was now covered head to toe in red, black, and yellow scales. "When I'm done," he glanced over his shoulder meeting her gaze with his own, "we will enter talks, of striking an accord that will benefit not only me, but young Perseus and you!"

It took Sally a moment for her to comprehend his words. 'Young lady?' She pondered. 'He looks to be at least ten years younger than me.' His comment about her age wasn't the only thing he said that stuck with her.

He had called the monster, Delphyne. If she was the same dragon-maiden Sally was thinking about, then she had been strong enough to cut Zeus' hands off. Yet, he had called her an _'unsightly weakling'. _How great a power did this man wield if he saw a being that gave the gods trouble as weak?

But it was his final words that had her wondering if she should be afraid, or not. _'We will enter talks, of striking an accord that will benefit not only me, but young Perseus and you!'_ What was it that he wanted? And if he was as powerful as she thought he was, then why did he need Perseus and herself to get what he wanted? Could he have been sent here to aid them?

A roar that sounded as loud as that of a hundred lions ripped Sally from her musing and to the fight about to unfold.

With his hands in his pockets, the unidentified man slowly made his way toward the frenzied beast. He watched as it sprang at him, her jaws widening to a size that could easily fit a fully grown man into her maw. He chuckled as his thoughts took a perverted route.

Faster than either of the women in the alley could see, his hand flashed out grabbing Delphyne's now nine foot long tongue and proceeded to use it to savagely slam her into the wall of one the buildings that made the alley, before giving her tongue another jerk sending her toward the other building and then back again.

Delphyne was too dizzy from the blows to her head to realize what the being, who appeared to be a man, was doing until it was too late.

Reaching out, he clasped the long, scaly tongue in his free hand. With barely a flex of his wrist, he tore her tongue in two.

Sally jumped for the third time since entering the alley as the nauseating sound of ripping flesh entered the air. The sound had barely died away before it was replaced by the blood-curdling scream of the dragon-maiden.

Blood that was surprisingly the color of snow, spurted out of the maiden's ruined tongue in tune with the beat of her heart. Bile rising in her throat, Sally could almost feel herself pitying the poor beast, before her pity was stamped out by the rage filled part of her that was calling for the beast to suffer more. It would have done far worse to her baby had it received the chance. It deserved every bit of its agony and more!

Remembering her child, Sally quickly let her anger go and glanced down at her baby to see his beautiful sea-green eyes watching the milky blood as it pooled on the pavement at the man's feet. His far too intelligent for a newborn baby eyes tracking the severed piece of tongue as it dropped from the man's hand and started flopping around on the ground, like a fish taken from water, the last traces of life in it fading away.

Growing bored and just a little sad, the unnamed man swiftly jerked the suffering creature to him. Summoning water out from the air around him and on to his unoccupied hand, he effortlessly shaped it into a blade, before freezing it in place.

The last thing Delphyne saw before she was split from head to toe and turned to dust, was how her attacker had frozen water to his arm, effectively turning his limb into frosty colored sword, a blade that would send her back to the underworld.

"T-that was..." She trailed off, not knowing how to describe the act of violence she had just seen. Her loss for words quickly passed, only to be replaced with numerous questions. The blade of ice still fresh in her mind, she decided to find out who he was. "Are you related to Poseidon? Has he sent you to help us?"

Ignoring the severed piece of tongue that remained as his spoils of battle, he made his way back to the shaking mother, letting the chunk of ice melt as he did.

"No, Poseidon did not send me." Sally heart ached at his answer. "But do not blame that fool, there are many reasons that he did not and could not help you."

Sally sighed tiredly. "I know... the ancient laws, they forbade him from inter-"

"No," he said cutting her off, "as you well know, he was not to sire another demigod. He swore so on the River Styx, but did so anyway. I think we both can agree, he like all the other gods feels he's above any sort of rule or law."

"Does that mean," she paused, swallowing the lump in her throat, "does it mean he doesn't care, for us?"

"Once again, no. It turns out that his wife," here Sally flinched; she hated being the other woman, "has somehow gained knowledge of young Perseus. She has found a way to block any prayers sent by you to her husband."

Sally didn't fight the relieved laughter that escaped her. 'He still cares about us,' she thought.

"But the situation you find yourself in is partly his fault." He informed her, breaking the stressed woman out of her momentary reprieve. "He saw for himself the power this young one possesses, and will gain. He should have known it wouldn't be long before conflict would come calling your child's name."

Sally felt her anger flare at her savior. Poseidon had told her the dangers that would come, for not only her, but their child as well. She had known what she was going to be getting herself into when she had laid with him.

"Calm yourself," he ordered. From the amount of authority in his voice, she felt compelled to comply. "Lord splish-splash's failure to, as they say in these times, 'keep it in his pants,' will be not only be my gain, but yours and your child's as well."

"What do you mean?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Stepping closer to the mother and child, the man laid a gentle, caring hand on Perseus' head. "I'm here to offer you two things." He told her, never taking his eyes off the demigod. "I offer my protection. I will watch over the both of you, for the next eleven years, keeping any and all monsters away."

Sally didn't know what to think. He had just shown he could easily take on a monster. If he was to protect them, then it would mean she wouldn't have to send her baby off to Camp Half-Blood. And from what he had said, he was going to offer them even more.

"Why only eleven years," she asked, her grip on Perseus tightening unconsciously. "Why not watch him until he's older, or until he can protect himself?"

"Because at that time I plan to fade," he stated, as if knowing when you're going to die was a common thing.

"Why," she asked in shock. Why anyone would want to die, she didn't know.

The still unnamed man stepped back from her laughing. "How old do you think I am," he asked, a bit of mirth shining through his pain filled eyes.

"I have no idea," she told him honestly. "From some of the things you've said, I'm willing to guess that you're older than I am."

"What if I told you that I'm older than any of the gods?" The mirth in his eyes died away as he spoke. "What if I were to say I'm older than the Titans and those who came before them? If I said I have witnessed civilizations rise from the silver tongued lies of man. If I told you I was there when the same civilization was brought to its knees from the love shared between two children? I have seen the best and worst that this dimension and numerous others have to offer. That is why I choose to fade!"

Sally was at a loss for words. What could you say to someone after hearing that? She suddenly felt very small and foolish.

"And if you accept my offer, you'll not only get my protection, but my vast fortune as well." Sally went wide eyed at this. She had been expecting a lot of things, but money wasn't one of them. "Think about it, not only would you be able to afford the best education at any college of your choice, but you'd be able to give Peruses anything and everything. He'd never want for anything that you couldn't give."

"All this sounds too good to be true." Perseus was cutely blowing spit bubbles in her arms, oblivious to how serious the talk going on around him was. "Why does it feel like I'm making a deal with the devil? What is it that I have to agree to, for you to give us so much?"

The same frightening smirk as before made its way to his lips. "All I ask of you is to let me give Perseus power!"

"What do you mean?" She asked, with steel in her voice.

"As I'm sure you have guessed, I'm not human. Nor am I a god, titan, or any other type of immortal you can think of." His voice had gained a bored tone to it. "I am the first and last of my kind. I was born a creature so weak that even the weakest of mortals could have killed me with ease. I was nothing more than a plaything for the ruling beings at the time... that is, until I came across one of those same ruling beings as it was dying."

"As it demanded I help it, I could remember all the times it and the others like it abused me for their entertainment. The memories of what they had done caused me to snap... I fell on the being that had harmed me thousands of times, and drained it of what could be called its life blood."

Sally could taste bile in her throat once again. "So... you're a vamp-"

"You will refrain from comparing me to those leaches!" He hissed in a deadly whisper.

Sally didn't know if she would suffocate or if her heart would stop first. All she knew was that the being before her was radiating an aura that screamed for her death. Surprisingly, the being's aura had no effect on Perseus.

Taking a calming breath, the effect he was having on her died away. "I'm sorry for how I reacted, but I am nothing like those monstrous beings, which drain everything they can of one's life force. I admit I did so once, but have not done so since."

"Then what are you?" She asked hesitantly. "And why do you not have an heir of your own, if you don't want your race to die?"

"Because all of my mates have been taken from me," he said, his grief clear for Sally to see and hear. "And I refuse to use some mortal woman, for my own selfish needs."

She nodded as she felt her respect for him rise. "What will happen to Perseus when he is given your power?"

"You have misconceived my gift to him." He bluntly told her. "He will be in top health and completely stop aging in his early twenties, but he will not become stronger than the gods, like I am. He will have the ability to become stronger than them, but he could just as easily be only as strong as his demigod powers take him. It's up to him how far he will go."

"Wha-"

"The power I'll be giving him is the ability to gain the same abilities as those of the powerful beings he drinks of." Sally gave him a confused look that spurred him in to giving her an example. "If he were to drink the blood, of say... Apollo, then he could possibly become a great archer, or gain the rare ability to heal others with his bare hands. Then again, he may only end up with the ability to play any musical instrument he picks up."

"What powers he gains all depend on how the blood he consumes manifests."

"Is that how you were able to freeze your arm, by drinking the blood of a creature that had powers over ice?"

"Yes and no," he answered vaguely. "While I have never drunk from any of the major gods you know of today, I have partaken from some of their predecessors, including an ancestor of Poseidon. What you saw me do with the ice, is something Perseus will be able to do in the future, even without my gift."

The man seemed to know that Sally would need a few seconds to take in all that she had been told. To pass the time, he made faces at the child in her arms, earning cute gurgles of laughter.

"What are the drawbacks to this deal?" She asked, pulling him out of his game of making faces at Perseus.

"I can only think of two at the moment," he answered. "First, if he were to be revealed to the gods, they may want him dead. The second being the qualifications required of anyone he wishes to turn."

"The fact that the gods would want him dead aside," Sally said angrily. "What 'qualifications' must be filled for him to turn others?"

"If he was to turn a woman he wanted as a mate, or simply turn one of his friends, their virginity must be intact."

Sally gave him a disbelieving look. "Really? Do you not know how the world works these days?" She asked, not caring if she had insulted him. "These days, it's not exact all high on people's to-do list to keep their virtue, let alone their virginity."

Sally was taken aback when the man before her started laughing.

"I don't know what you've heard about the beings of old, but I can assure you that they were as horny and awful thousands of years ago as they are now." He sent her a condescending smile. "But let's be real about this. Would you want your son to end up with women who would spread their legs for just anyone?"

She responded by grumbling to herself, resulting in giggles from Perseus. The sound of her child's laughter calmed her down enough for her to recall something he had said. "Wait! You said women... as in more than one?"

"Yes?" He didn't see what she was getting at.

"Like a harem?" Sally asked, outraged at the thought of her son behaving like some kind of male version of Aphrodite.

"Yes, like a harem. Though why you, a woman who has had a child with a married man would see this as a problem, I don't know." Sally flushed at the reminder of Poseidon's marital status. Seeing her reaction, he sighed. "Just because he can be with multiple women doesn't mean he will. Though if he's anything like the visions of his future self I have seen, then he likely will. And will treat them all better than any other man, ever could."

"You've seen his future?" He nodded. "Does his receiving your gift, protect him?"

"I've seen multiple paths his future could take." He had turned his attention to the baby in her arms. "In more than one they have not only saved him, but numerous others…," he trailed off, letting her come to her own conclusions. Sally looked relieved to hear this, despite not hearing anything more than the implication of her son being kept safe. "But in them all, he faces many hardships. With the possibilities these powers bring, he would have a better chance of facing them and coming out on top!"

"But you and his father both have said he will be extremely powerful." The thought of the gods turning on her child scared her greatly. "Will he really need any more power?"

"I will give you a piece of information, and then let you decide if he will need more power." Sally leaned forward with a hungry look in her eye. Anything she could find out about Perseus' future would be beneficial. "In every one of his futures, there are times of great danger, where he ends up fighting not only ancient monsters, but traitorous gods, and full powered titans."

Sally didn't need any more convincing after that. If Perseus was to face all that the man before her had said, then he would need any and all advantages that he could get to survive.

"What do we have to do?" She asked, her face etched in determination.

"I'll be transferring the money to your account tomorrow morning." He said, ignoring her impatient look. He knew she wasn't doing this for the money, but for Perseus' safety. That didn't change the fact that she needed to know what he was going to do. "After that you can do with it as you please, and go where you want. Don't worry, no matter where you go I will always be there to protect you both, even though you will never see me again."

Sally didn't know how to feel about never seeing him again, but before she could dwell on it, he had continued talking.

"Finally, you must never tell him of me, nor of the gods." Sally looked ready to argue, but was cut off by him. "He will also have to go to Camp Half-Blood during his twelfth year of life. It's a part of the deal, take it or leave it!"

Sally's lips thinned with displeasure. "Fine!"

"In eleven years time, he will have almost completely synced with his future ability. When that time comes, I'll send you a letter of what school he must attend." He told her in a tone that left no room for disagreement. "From there he will meet those who will help guide him to the camp. Before he goes, I will have given him all the information he will need about his gift. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good!" He said, as he stepped toward the mother and son, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt.

Stopping with only inches between him and the small family, he raised his wrist to his now growing canines, before uncaringly ripping into his own flesh.

Unfazed by the blood leaking from his lips and wrist, he quickly held his injury over the curious baby, letting his wound continuously leak into the infant's mouth. His mother thinking that the amount would be too much, tried to pull her child away, but was stopped by the bleeding man's giant hand clamping on to her arm, rebuffing her desires.

"Done," he said, stepping back, letting go of Sally and licking his still bleeding wrist. As his tongue passed over each wound, they sizzled as the skin knitted itself closed, leaving behind no sign of his of fangs passing through his flesh.

"Goodbye Sally," he said, turning to exit the alley.

"Wait!" She called out, causing him to halt. "I... thank you. Without you, who knows what would have become of us."

"There is no need for your thanks." He said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "We are helping each other. We are more than even."

"Can you at least tell me your name?"

"Not the name I was born with, no." He read the look of disappointment that crossed Sally's face. "However," he said, gaining a hopeful look from the emotional woman, "you may call me Cain."

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AN: In this story Perseus will be a lot stronger than he was in canon, but I also plan on making those he faces stronger as well. Adding to that, the gods will be the same as canon, but there will be monsters added to the PJO-world that don't belong to Greek mythology, but from from the stories of many different cultures from around the world.

As I stated before, Percy will be stronger than in canon. I plan on having him use his powers over water(ice), giving him power over earthquakes, and any added powers he gets from the blood he drinks.

If you couldn't tell earlier, this story will be ba a harem pairing. I have a poll going on who gets in, so check it out if you want a say. Finally, I plan on this story spanning over all of the PJO books. I haven't read the HOO, but if you the readers want me to continue later on, I'll read them and keep this a going.

I hope you have enjoyed my fic and plan on coming back! Leave me a review on how it was!


	2. Chapter 2 The Meetings

Update 10/27: re-beta'd by Joe Lawyer

AN: Poll is still up. Beta = GreenGrizzly. Thank you for all that you do!

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_"However," he said gaining a hopeful look from the emotional woman, "you may call me Cain." _

Sleepily, sea-green eyes fluttered open under a shag of midnight black hair, only to be snapped shut as their owner tried to block out the assault being led on their retinas by the sun shining through the open bedroom window. Groaning, the half awake boy pulled one of the two pillows on the bed over his head, attempting to smother the blotches of light appearing on the back of his eyelids.

Knowing he would be unable to gain any more sleep, the figure lying with their head covered tried to think back to the dream he had been experiencing, before having made the transition from asleep to awake.

Sally, his mother, had been a part of the dream. She had been scared – no, terrified, is what she had been - she had been terrified of something to the point she had attempted all within her power to get both her and the bundle in her arms away from whatever it was that was causing her such panic. Eventually the thing that had struck such fear into her heart had caught up to her, but was stopped by the largest man Sally had ever seen.

'I have got to grow my hair out like his. That feather was freaking awesome,' the boy thought as a goofy grin made its way to his face.

Along with his unusual height and hair style, the giant of a man had the strangest colored eyes he had ever seen. They were a burnt-orange that he had only ever seen in the eyes of a bird-of-prey. Even as the dream turned blurry, as most dreams have a tendency to do, he could still see the intensity in those bizarre colored orbs.

After initially being afraid of the tall stranger, the man had gone on to save Sally and her little bundle, curing her of her fear, but not of her caution. That was where the dream started to become hazy to him, to the point that only bits and pieces were clear enough for the dreamer to decipher.

His arm had turned to ice? Something about a maiden? An offer made to his mother that somehow involved the bundle! A flash of white, followed by a red substance that smelled strongly of copper?

'Weird ass dream,' he thought, shoving the pillow away and catching his first glance of the alarm clock sitting on the night stand next to the bed.

Cursing himself for over sleeping, he quickly rolled out of bed and started getting dressed for the day. He had only just begun sliding on a pair of shorts when a knock sounded at his door.

"It's open," he called, tying his board-shorts.

The door opened just enough for the head of a good looking man to pop in. His hair hung down just past his ears and was the color of salt and pepper; it emphasized his laugh lines, giving him a permanent happy look. His name was Paul Blofis and was the boy's stepfather.

"Perseus, what are you doing being lazy this morning?" Paul asked good-naturedly, his lips quirked in to a smile. "It's time to get up and at'em! Your mother already has breakfast on the table and we all know your skinny butt can't afford to miss a meal," Paul said, just before he was forced to dodge a shoe Perseus had sent his way.

The now identified boy known as Perseus, was as healthy as could be, he ate right and spent almost all of his time outside, being active. However, this did not change the fact that he was both very skinny and surprisingly short for a boy of eleven. His mother had told him on more than one occasion that he was just a late bloomer and that given time he would shoot right up, but Perseus was quickly losing hope of ever gaining any height. He had even seen nine year-olds who were taller than him. It had devastated the boy. Paul only joked about his short stature in order to show Perseus that it wasn't a big deal, but to a boy about to turn twelve in a month's time, it was a crisis above all others.

"Watch it, _Blowfish_," Perseus warned him, with little heat to his voice. "Skinny or not, I can still kick your butt, old man!"

"Yeah, yeah, you have me shaking, _Percy_!" The man knew his beloved step-son hated the shortened version of his name and only used it when riling him up. "Now hurry up, or I'll leave to go surfing without you," he called through the door as he closed it behind him.

"NO!" Perseus yelled with wide, panic filled eyes. "I'll be out in a minute." Turning on the spot, he jumped flat footed, with barely a bend of the knee to the other side of his bed. In his haste to get to the dresser holding his clothing, he failed to comprehend what he had done and how it would be outside the capabilities of any normal person to replicate.

Throwing on one of his t-shirts that displayed his favorite band, he started for his bedroom door only to stop in his tracks as his eyes landed on a large, barrel like torso. Scrunching up his eyes in bemusement, his gaze made a slow trek up the frame before him, coming to a stop as familiar burnt-orange pupils met his sea-green ones.

As he took in just how powerful the emotions in the eyes of the man before him were, Perseus couldn't help the mixture of panic and curiosity that was battling inside him. How was it that the man from his dreams, the person who had helped his mother in her time of need, ended up in his room? This and so much more passed through his young mind in the blink of an eye, but what got to him the most was the sheer massiveness of the man.

His head looked to be only inches away from scraping against the ceiling. Perseus had always known that he was short, and had hated his genetics for it, but as he took in the sight of the man before him, he, for the first time ever, truly felt his height was a disadvantage. It was clear to Perseus that if this man chose to, he could easily do whatever he pleased to not only himself, but his mother and stepfather as well.

Perseus looked to be trying to form words, but the sudden appearance of the person from his dreams had left the young boy utterly speechless. And though he was at a loss for words, the way he held himself betrayed how ready he was for a fight with the stranger, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"My name is Cain... and I thank you for giving me peace," he said in a whisper that carried to every corner of the bedroom.

Perseus' look of confusion amplified as he slightly shook his head.

Cain's face, which had been void of any type of emotion since entering the room, turned to one that spoke of amusement at Perseus' confusion. "Do not worry yourself small one," he said, trying to ease the nerves of the boy he had watched over since the day of his birth, "all you will need to know will come to you in time." Before he had finished talking he was moving.

Faster than Perseus could track, Cain was on a knee next to him. Even as he knelt next to him, Cain still towered over the future of his species. Taking the child by the wrist, he pulled the limb to his lips where upon he sank his canines into the artery, drawing a shocked gasp from Perseus.

Even before his teeth had entered the boy's flesh, the sixth sense that his species possessed that allowed him to know who was worthy of drinking from was screaming for him to partake of the child Poseidon had sired. And once the scarlet liquid passed over his tongue he was not left wanting. The child's blood was easily the best tasting of any of the mortals he had drunk from. This was all the proof he needed to know that he had made the right choice for his heir - Perseus was without a doubt going to be a very powerful being.

Shaking off the want, he continued drawing from the stunned pre-teen; Cain started to push his venom into his blood stream. As more and more of what made him what he was passed into the boy's body, the ancient being could feel Perseus becoming weaker by the second as a cold sweat poured from the young boy.

Having created a small number of his kind in the past he knew what to expect and was ready with an outstretched arm when Perseus lost consciousness.

Draining off the last of what he was giving the boy, he took the now trembling eleven year old in both arms, lifting him as easily as one would expect a man of his size could. Placing Perseus in his bed, the tall man pulled the covers over the boy to lessen the chills he was experiencing as a tender look entered his abnormal eyes.

He may have never had a son of his own, but over the years he had come to see the boy before him as his very own. And how could he not truly, he had been there when he had spoken his first word. He had watched as he struggled on two chubby little legs to stand upright and eventually take his first tentative steps. Witnessed the tears leave his eyes as the heartbreak of losing his first pet had over taken him, and seen him grow to love the man that would become his stepfather. All of the most important moments and every one of the meaningless seconds, Cain had been there, protecting the young boy as monster after monster had come looking for his head.

For the first time in thousands of years, Cain wished that he had more time. Time, so that he could be there to guide his young one through the many hardships that would undoubtedly face him. But his wishes were just that, wishes! He had already given up what kept him alive for so long and as he stood there watching the shudders raking through his body; he could feel his time in this world ending.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an envelope with the boy's mother's name on it. Placing the letter on Perseus' chest, he watched in morbid fascination as his hand and then slowly the rest of his body became transparent.

Just as the last of the man simply known as Cain faded away, there came a soft knock at the door.

"Perseus," called a gentle voice that obviously belonging to a woman. "Honey... are you all right in there?"

Still not receiving an answer, Sally felt a small amount of fear enter her. It wasn't like Perseus to not answer her right away when she called him. Pushing down her now rising panic, she knocked on the door with more force than she had the first time. "Perseus, if you're undressed, cover yourself! I'm coming in."

Ignoring the trepidation she was experiencing, Sally lightly pushed open the door leading to her son's room, not knowing what she would find. Much to her immense relief, Perseus was lying in bed, his covers pulled to his chin. Chiding herself for her dramatics, she breezed through the threshold of the room and up to her son's still form.

She had been about to reach out to his shoulder and shake him awake when she noticed the layer of sweat covering his brow. Her eyebrows knitted together, a sign of her confusion at what she was witnessing.

His room had a soothing wind blowing through the window, meaning he shouldn't have been hot at all. She had seen him lie out on the beach just a few feet outside their current housings front door just the day before and he hadn't shown any hint of the then blazing sun bothering him.

Placing the back of her hand to his forehead, she gasped in shock as she fought the urge to pull her hand away from him. His body was alarmingly clammy and she could have sworn she felt his skin ripple beneath her fingers.

Panicking once again, Sally called out to Paul, hoping he would know what to do. As she waited for the arrival of her husband, she grabbed the comforter that Perseus had kick off the bed during the night and was about to place it over him when she noticed the letter on his chest. With what felt like her whole body shaking from her nerves, she picked up the envelope and opened it with clumsy fingers.

This was the scene Paul walked in on.

"Sally, what's wrong? Why were you yelling?" He asked, as he took in the state Perseus was in and the letter in his wife's hands. "Is he all right?" Paul asked, walking to the opposite side of the bed that Sally was on, quickly checking over his stepson.

"Sally, this isn't good, we have to get him to a hospital," he exclaimed. "You go get the car and I'll get Perseus!" He was already attempting to pick up the small boy, when Sally spoke, giving him pause.

"No, leave him where he is," Sally commanded in a small detached voice, her attention never leaving the paper in her hands.

"Leave him," Paul repeated in disbelief, his eyes narrowing at the woman he had married. "Sally, he's sick - we have to get him to a doctor!"

Shaking her head no, she replied, "He'll been fine in a few days time." Paul looked to her as if she had gained a second head. "Until then," she said finally meeting his eyes, "I'll tell you about Perseus' biological father and the deal I made years ago."

IDC: LT

"Perseus," called a dark skinned boy as he pulled on the sleeve of the taller boy sitting beside him, on the faded and cracked leather seats of the school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The boy, still not having his call answered, pulled the ear bud of Perseus' iPod out of his ear, finally gaining the attention of the preteen.

"Did you need something Grover," Perseus asked, as a yawn fought to over take him.

"I wanted to know where you sneaked off to last night." The boy known as Grover glanced around them looking for any eavesdroppers. Leaning in toward his best friend, he lowered his voice as to not be over heard, "Last night I came to your room, but you were out. I waited as long as I possibly could, but by the time curfew rolled around you had yet to show up and I wasn't about to chance Ms. Dobbs finding me out of my room after hours."

Perseus nodded, he wouldn't have risked the old bat finding him either. "After classes ended yesterday, I sneaked off campus, caught a cab and went and got something done I've been wanting to for a while now." Turning off his music player, he wrapped his ear buds around it and pocketed it. "Do you notice anything different about me," he asked smirking.

Grover looked to his friend giving him a once over, the boy next to him had changed a lot in the year he had known him. When he had first sat next to the shaggy, raven haired boy, Grover had been more than two heads taller than the frail looking boy. Perseus was now a head taller than him, standing at an impressive height of 5'7 with a frame lined with lithe, corded muscle, his hair cut neatly on the back and sides. While the top was nowhere near as long as it had been before, it was still longer than the rest in a just-rolled-out-of-bed look that girls just seemed to _love_ to gently run their hands through.

As Grover looked him over once more, he saw what he had failed to see when Perseus had his ever present ear buds in. "You got your ears gauged," he gasped. "What are your parents going to think? What are you going to do when Ms. Dobbs sees them?"

Perseus shrugged, looking nonplussed. "What can the old bat say - it's my body. As for my parents, well I don't see them being too upset. My mom and stepdad both are pretty cool about letting me do my own thing, and it's not like these are like those _huge_ ugly looking gages. These are small and will heal without surgery _if_ I ever choose to take them out."

Grover calmed as Perseus explained and ended up nodding in response. "I would have brought you with me man, but I could see you having a panic attack on me if I had told you where I was going!"

"Just be careful Perseus - what in the gods was that?" Grover shrieked, bringing his hand up to his black hair, pulling away with a hand full of peanut butter-and-jelly. "Who the hell did that," yelled the black boy, turning to those who were laughing and pointing farther back on the bus at a redheaded girl with a smattering of freckles.

Gritting his teeth Perseus flipped her off as Grover turned back around. "It looks like Strawberry Short Cakes drunken mistake strikes again," he said, earning a laugh from Grover.

"Don't worry about it," Grover said, trying to act like it didn't bother him as he slid down in his seat in order to present less of a target to the girl. "Nancy's just wanting attention, pay her no mind and she'll eventually give up."

"If all she wants is attention, I'd be more than willing to spend some time with her under some bleachers," Perseus said, getting a distant look in his eyes as he thought about the girl's developed figure.

Grover smiled, shaking his head at his friend. "Good luck! Her looks aside, she's not my type, I don't do bitch."

Coming back down from his daydream Perseus gave his best friend a thoughtful look. "If you want her to leave you alone, why not show her you're not to be messed with!"

"How?"

Perseus tapped his friend's crutches with his knuckle. "Next time she tries something, give her shin a good rap with one of these babies."

Grover's crutches had made him a big target for bullies during his time at Yancy; this coupled with how small Perseus had been when they had first arrived had made them band together in their struggles against those who wanted to mess with them. This had all changed as Perseus had grown. After putting an eighth grader in his place (violently), he had gained both him and the crippled boy a reprieve from troublemakers, bar Nancy who would stop at nothing to mess with them. The girl just didn't know when to quit! Perseus secretly thought she had crush on one of them. It would certainly explain why she would always seek them out.

The crippled boy looked to be thinking about doing just that before his shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "I'd just get caught... or beat up," Grover muttered pessimistically.

Perseus was about to chide the boy for letting people push him around when an interruption came in the form of a glob of jelly hitting Perseus in the back of the head.

Grover went completely still, his sandstone brown eyes doubled their normal size as he watched his buddy slowly bring his fingers up and wipe the bits of sandwich off the crown of his skull. He had been expecting for him to blow up, but was left, at first, surprised, then scared, when Perseus grabbed the bag holding his own packed lunch and pulled out an apple that he somehow managed to make look dangerous in his hands.

Without thinking about the consequences, Perseus whipped the fruit at the freckle covered girl.

He cursed his lousy aim when it missed her by inches and hit the window behind her, leaving spider web like cracks in the glass.

"Honey," a gravelly old voice called from the front of the bus.

Paying no mind that he had heard the call from his math teacher, Perseus looked to the roof of the bus and started mumbling to any god that would hear him out, asking them to smite the old bat for him. He was broken out of his theatrics by the same old voice as before. Knowing that if there was such a thing as god or gods, they wouldn't give him the time of day, he turned to face her.

"Honey, next time I call, you will listen," the leather wearing granny ordered with heat in her voice. "Now then, since you're going to act like a small child, I'm going to treat you like one! And we all know that small children should not be left unsupervised, so why don't you come up here and sit with me," she said trying and failing for a sweet tone of voice.

Gritting his teeth again, he grabbed his things, all the while muttering to himself. "I guess, I was wrong," he said, gaining the attention of Grover who had been shooting Ms. Dobbs nervous looks. Seeing the boy's questioning look, Perseus elaborated, "I thought that if there was a god out there he wouldn't pay me any mind. I was so wrong," Perseus said, as he stepped across the crippled boy's legs, not seeing the shocked look his words had earned him. "There is a god - and he hates my guts!"

Making his way to the front of the bus, he ignored the snickers and random feet sent his way. Taking a seat beside the smelly old woman, he tuned her out as he wondered what he had done to piss his parents off so much, to end up in a hell hole like Yancy Academy.

All he knew was that he had woken up feeling like shit after catching some kind of 72 hour sickness, not remembering a thing that had happened the day he had gotten sick. Then his mom and dad dropped a huge bomb on him! Instead of going to a school in a state where one of their many homes were located, they would be moving to New York for the first time since Perseus had been a baby and he would be forced to go to a school for crazy ass kids.

Perseus couldn't help the resentment he felt for both Sally and Paul dropping him like they had. He knew they more than likely had a good reason, but that still didn't change the fact that he felt as if he had been betrayed.

"Honey!" Perseus was pulled out of his thoughts and about gagged when he looked up into the saggy skin of his math teacher. "I asked what you thought about that."

She had obviously been ranting while he had been lost in thought. Meaning he had absolutely no idea what she had been talking about.

"I'm not sure, but this jacket is just to die for," he gushed, as he rubbed her leather gear. "Where did you buy it, I have got to get me one!"

IDC: LT

"What did you say to piss Dobbs off?" Grover asked, as they passed the water fountains outside the Greek and Roman gallery exhibit.

"What makes you think that little old me, did anything to upset that kind, little old lady?" Perseus asked, giving his best impression of what he thought innocence looked like.

Grover laughed so hard at the look that Perseus wore that he sounded like a barn animal.

Hands in his pockets, Perseus came to a stop at the back of the group listening to Mr. Brunner before speaking again. "She's going to make me pay back the school for the window I destroyed," he said remorsefully.

"Well, that's not so bad," Grover said reassuringly, giving his arm a pat. "Your family's loaded. It should be no problem for you to pay for the window."

Perseus scoffed, drawling a raised eyebrow from Grover. "Ms. Dobbs knows about my family's wealth." Biting the inside of his cheek, he shook his head at his luck. "She says that I won't learn anything if my mother pays for it. So instead of her writing a check," Grover could tell from the badly done impersonation, these had been Ms. Dobbs' words, "I'll be working at the academy until they have been reimbursed for damage to school property," as he finished his face set into an uncharacteristic scowl.

Grover didn't know what to tell his friend so he settled for patting his shoulder once more.

"I get that I broke the window and should pay for it," as he spoke his eyes became unfocused, showing he was deep in thought, despite the fact that he was holding a conversation. "It's just her that I can't stand! Had it been Mr. Brunner who had punished me, I don't think I'd be anywhere near as upset as I am now."

"If that's the case Mr. Jackson maybe I should do just that for talking while I am," Mr. Brunner announced from the front of the group. Though he had every right to be upset, there wasn't a hint of anger in his voice.

Perseus had to resist the urge to groan as the group was once again laughing at his expense. None found his plight more entertaining than Nancy and her horse faced friends.

"Aw, the dork and the cripple are in trouble again," Nancy mock whispered to the renewed giggles of her friends.

"Watch it ginger, it would be awful if you were to trip into on-coming traffic," he whispered to her causing the parts of her that weren't already to turn red. "Sorry sir, it won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't," Mr. Brunner ordered kindly.

IDC: LT

The rest of the tour leading up to lunch went rather smoothly for Perseus and Grover. When it became time for them to have lunch, Ms. Dobbs lead the group out to the front steps where they would be eating. As the two friends lagged behind the rest, Perseus joked how great their arrangements were.

"Smart planning by the academy," Perseus told Grover as he dug into his pocket for his music-player. "Putting a huge group of mental-case kids in a place where they can get at tourists."

Grover shook his head at how messed up and yet true his words were. "Look at the bright side," he said, following Perseus toward the fountain and away from their school group. "After Nancy steals whatever she can get her hands on, maybe she'll be happy enough to leave us alone."

Both took a seat at the edge of the fountain pulling out their packed lunches. In silence the two ate, Grover sending nervous looks between Ms. Dobbs, whom was throwing Perseus dirty looks, while said boy looked to be lost in thought as he watched traffic pass by.

"Would you like to meet my mom and dad?" Perseus asked suddenly, his attention never wavering from the cars speeding past.

Grover took a big bite out of one of the carrot sticks he had brought with him for lunch before he responded. "I'd like to meet them..." He was unsure of whether or not his dark haired friend could even hear him with his ear buds in. "Are they coming to the school for something?"

Instead of speaking he simply shook his head in the negative. "I was thinking of sneaking off to their condo," Perseus sighed.

"W-we can't - you can't, it's too dangerous," Grover panicked. He tried to do so without Perseus seeing it, but the sharp eyed boy caught him sending Mr. Brunner, who had parked his wheelchair on the other side of the group reading a paperback book, hopeful looks.

"You wouldn't rat me out, would you G-man?" He asked, sounding upset at the thought, his face though was unreadable.

"Of course not man," Grover replied, sounding as upset as the other boy had, the difference was that he allowed his emotions to show. "You know me, I worry about everything, but I'd never betray my best friend!"

"Yeah, I know that," Perseus admitted, sounding ashamed of himself. "I'm just really missing my parents and the temptation to sneak off and see them has my emotions running high. Sorry if I upset you!"

Grover was about to tell him he understood and that he forgave him, when he was once again assaulted by a sandwich. This time it hit him on the forehead, where it slid down his face and tangled in his few short strands of chin hair he possessed.

"Oops girls, looks like I ruined the love birds' moment," Nancy said to her friends flanking her sides, in a mock apologetic voice. "Maybe you should go wash that off."

Perseus was never one to be known for his anger control, but the fact that he had never given in to his want of punching the girl was amazing. However, this time she had messed with him and his friend at the worst possible time. He was too upset about being so close to his parent's place, to let even the smallest thing go, let alone what she had pulled this time.

"Like you're one to talk about taking a bath Nancy," Perseus said, handing Grover a napkin to clean himself off with. "I mean look at those freckles, you look like you were standing behind a horse that had diarrhea." He stood up as Nancy gaped like a fish at what he had said to her. "Let me help you see if water will get rid of those shit stains."

Stepping forward, he grabbed the girl by her shoulder and ass, making sure to give her little squeeze on her nicely shaped bottom, before hefting her into the fountain.

As the fair-haired girl floundered around like a fish, those who had seen what had happened laughed full out at the girl. The only ones to not find the scene funny were Grover who was in shock at what had happened, Nancy's friends, all three of which looked horrified at what had happened, and the two teachers who were converging on the small group at that moment.

At once there were two voices calling out at Perseus, one for 'Mr. Jackson', the other for 'Honey'.

He knew he was in 'it' deep at the moment, but the smile on his face couldn't have been knocked off by anything. "Yes?" The self satisfaction in his voice was abundantly clear for all to hear.

"Why," Mr. Brunner said, louder than was necessary, cutting off Ms. Dobbs before she could start, "would you do that to Ms. Bobofit?"

"She looked like the heat was getting to her," Perseus joked. "I thought she might like a nice swim, so I helped her out," he stated innocently.

"You pervert," Nancy growled as she stood up, her soaked clothes plastered to her skin. "He grabbed my as- butt," she corrected herself at the last second.

"Ms. Dobbs, will you please take Ms. Bobofit to dry off and buy her some dry clothes from the gift shop?" He left the older woman no room to argue as he pulled fifty dollars out of his wallet and handed it to her. The leather wearing woman nodded reluctantly, taking the money and helping the 'poor dear' out of the fountain, making sure to send Perseus a poisonous glare as she left.

"As for you Mr. Jackson, even if the reason you gave me was acceptable, which it is most certainly not, the weather itself is hardly what I would call 'hot'." The Latin teacher fixed him with a look that somehow made him feel a little bad for what he had done to the girl. "So, please, inform me the real reason you saw it fit to throw her in to the fountain?"

"Because if I had thrown her into traffic it would have killed her," as soon as he said this he regretted it. Mr. Brunner was as good at giving that disappointed look as his mother was.

"Fine," Perseus sighed. "I was getting tired of her pulling crap and no one ever making her pay for it. So I figured I'd teach her a lesson myself!" He felt a small portion of hope that he wouldn't get into any trouble as a look of understanding crossed the man's face.

"And the reason behind the... 'behind' grab?"

Perseus shrugged his shoulders, "Happy accident?"

Grover finally getting over his shock, snorted as Mr. Brunner ran a hand tiredly over his face and through his hair.

"What would your parents think, Perseus?" He could see that the question had brought Perseus up short and decided to push his point. "How would you feel if someone were to treat your mother the way you did Nancy?"

Perseus felt his anger rise at the thought of someone touching his mom. "Dude, you're such a buzz kill," he told Mr. Brunner in a whiny voice.

"So I've been told a few times," he said as his lips quirked. "Promise me next time she starts something to come to me!"

"Promise," Perseus huffed, crossing his arms.

"Good! Now then, for the remainder of the trip you will stay by my side, and in the morning you will come to my office to talk about a suitable punishment for your actions," he informed his favorite student, earning a groan in return.

IDC: LT

After being forced to stand by the wheelchair rolling professor for the remainder of the trip, the rest of the time spent in the museum passed without incident.

The shuttle bus holding the group pulled into a set of high, iron gates that kept intruders out and students in, the grounds of Yancy Academy. Sitting once again by Ms. Dobbs, Perseus watched as the many trees lining the graveled path up to the school passed him by.

As the old, brick covered building that housed many of the school's classrooms came into view, the teacher beside took him by the wrist, squeezing it with a strength that almost made him cry out in pain.

"Meet me in the gym at six," she ordered him as she took pleasure in his obvious discomfort. "Once there, you will start your payments back to the school, by doing what we can find for you to take care of." Having said her peace, she shoved him into the aisle of passing students where he was forced off the bus by the stream of excitedly talking children.

Perseus was still fuming about the old bat touching him as he untangled himself from the mass of students. Looking around, he found Grover standing by the stairs leading to the entrance of the school and quickly made his way over.

"Nancy didn't give you a hard time during the ride back, did she?" He asked, taking a seat on one of the steps next to the still standing Grover.

"Nah," he answered, watching people pass them by. "I think she was still too upset to function, let alone really try anything." Perseus watched as his friend popped something into his mouth that caught the light just before his friend bit in to it, making the sound of a soda can being crushed.

He raised an eyebrow at his friend, wondering what he could be eating to make such a noise, but thought better than to ask the boy.

The two passed into a comfortable silence as they watched Mr. Brunner being lowered from the bus. Perseus was trying to decide if he should just skip out on Ms. Dobbs, when a strange sight showed itself to him.

Two very attractive girls that Perseus had never seen before came strolling out the woods. Even from the distance they were at, he could still take in all of their details.

The taller of the two was a wavy haired blond, whom looked to have quite the athletic looking figure and beautiful storm-grey eyes. Perseus would have thought of her as the princess type, but the way she dressed showed she knew how to rough it. If what she was wearing wasn't enough, then her intense and intelligent eyes made it clear that she was as smart as she was beautiful.

The second girl only came up to the first shoulder. Short spiky black hair hung just below her chin, making the scattering of freckles across her nose and her electric-blue eyes pop in a way that Perseus had never seen before. And while she was nowhere near as athletic looking as the older girl beside her, she had a look that spoke of power and respect, even if she was dressed like she had just walked off the stage of a punk rock concert.

Perseus was focused on the two young beauties to such a degree that it took Grover punching him in the arm to grab his attention.

"Ow - what?" Perseus snapped.

"I asked what you were spacing out for," Grover informed him.

"Two of the best looking girls I've ever laid eyes on," Perseus said, as he rubbed where he had been hit.

Grover following the direction his friend was staring at, let out a deep gasp before screaming, "Annabeth, Thalia!" Perseus could only watch as Grover took off, stumbling towards the two girls as at the same time said girls' heads swung in his direction in unison.

Unnoticed by all was how Mr. Brunner was looking between the two girls and boy running toward each other, and Perseus who was slowly following behind the crutched boy.

Perseus had to give his crippled friend some props, for a kid that could barely walk he had flat out booked it to the girls, both of whom were at the moment hugging the boy in a friendly manner.

As he drew near to the small group, Perseus felt a strange sensation run through him as he watched the two girls. The only way he could describe the feeling was that something was telling him they were worthy of acceptance. But there was something else besides the feeling of acceptance for the two. It was almost like he felt a deep hunger pass over him as he watched them.

"Grover, you going to introduce me to your pretty friends?" Perseus asked, as he came to a stop next to the boy. Right away both girls locked eyes on him, the blonde looking as if she was taking his measure, while the other scoffed at being called pretty, before giving him an amused look. If the way the blue eyed girl was dressed was anything to go by, she didn't buy into the whole prissy girl thing.

"Perseus!" Grover exclaimed. For some reason, his voice had taken on the same nervous pitch it always did when he was lying, or trying to hide something. "Uh - um - yeah, this is Annabeth Chase, and Thalia Grace," he said pointing to the blonde haired girl, then the one with black hair. "They're-"

"My nieces," Mr. Brunner said, as he rolled up to the group. "Girls, this is Perseus Jackson. He is one of my students I teach here at Yancy Academy."

"Hello Perseus," the girls named Annabeth greeted him evenly.

"Sup, pretty-boy," Thalia greeted casually.

Perseus gave Thalia a light glare making her snicker, which in turn made him chuckle. "It's nice to meet the two of you," he said, as he looked between the girls and his Latin teacher. "So you're both his nieces?"

"Yup," Thalia confirmed, as Annabeth nodded in agreement. Neither gave Perseus a reason to not believe them, but the way Grover stiffened as he asked them about their relation, told him something was up.

"You know, now that I look at each of you properly, I can see a resemblance between the three of you," he said grinning, a small hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, I'm sure there was a reason you've both come here... from inside the woods that are surrounded by a huge iron fence," though his tone was light, the four around him could tell he didn't believe what he had been told.

"Grover, I have to meet up with Ms. Dobbs later, so I don't know when I'll be in my room." Perseus informed him, getting a nod that looked almost painful from the force he had used behind it. Perseus then turned to the other three. "It was great getting to meet you two, and Mr. Brunner I'll see you in your office in the morning."

"Having to meet a teacher later, then one first thing in the morning," Thalia listed off in a smug voice. "It sounds like someone is a trouble maker!"

"You got me Barbie," he took great joy in seeing the girl's freckled nose scrunch up cutely in disgust at what he had called her. "I'm just all kinds of trouble," he called over his shoulder as he walked away from the group missing Thalia's muttered threats.

Unknown to the group of four, Perseus strained his above average hearing to its very limits to hear what was being said as he sauntered away.

"Is he the one you were informed about, Chiron?"

"Yes he is," answered Mr. Brunner tiredly, surprising Perseus that the man answered to a name that wasn't his. He was sure that he had heard it somewhere before, but where, he didn't know. "Let me tell you, it hasn't been easy keeping those who would harm him away."

Hearing this Perseus slowed as much as he could without drawing attention to himself.

"Chiron is right," Grover said, sounding even more nervous than he usually did. "Why monsters hadn't started hunting him down before, I don't know. Whenever I'm around him, his smell overwhelms all others, even more so than yours Thalia!"

A wide eyed Perseus, walked through the entrance to the academy as Grover said the girl's name.

What had they meant by 'those who would harm him'? And his smell, what the hell was Grover talking about? 'Do I stink or something?' He thought, grabbing the collar of his shirt and taking a deep whiff. He shook his head as if answering his own question about him stinking. All he could smell was the light amount of cologne he had used earlier that morning. 'Then what had he meant?'

But the weirdest part of the whole conversation hadn't been the group talking about his smell, or those who wanted to hurt him, not even the part where Mr. Brunner answered to a name that wasn't his. No, the part that got to Perseus was when Grover had started to talk about monsters. What would cause them to even bring up something like that?

Perseus was still pondering over what he had heard as he had eavesdropped on the group, when he reached his dorm room. Unlocking his door, he could only come up with one solution as to why they would be talking about what they were.

'I'm such an idiot,' he thought, lying down on his small bed, covering his head with a pillow as had become habit for him over the years. 'They must have known that I was listening in and thought they would mess with me.' Pushing all thought of monsters and bad smells out of his mind, Perseus drifted off to sleep, thinking about Mr. Brunner's two hot 'nieces'.

IDC: LT

Perseus dashed through the front entrance to the gym with reckless abandon. Panting lightly, he squinted his eyes as he tried to see around the dark gym.

He had awoken from his nap at ten minutes to six. Without stopping to change out of his school uniform, he had taken off for the gymnasium like a bat out of hell, causing more than one person to jump out of his way in his attempt to not be late.

"Ms. Dobbs," Perseus yelled, as he walked further into the wide open gym. Balls that had been forgotten to be put away laid all across the basketball court, the bleachers that held spectators for games were folded up against the wall and out of the way, the bittersweet stench of sweat fermented the air, seeming to become stronger the farther into the gym he walked, but nowhere to be found was Ms. Dobbs.

Letting out an audible sigh, Perseus ran a hand through his shortly cut hair. He was guessing that Ms. Dobbs had either forgotten about their meeting, or she was enjoying a good laugh as she imagined him showing up and waiting on her for hours on end. Feeling his anger start to rise he turned to storm out the gym, but came to a stop as he saw the old woman standing in front of the door, her small beady eyes focused on him.

"There you are," Perseus snapped, his irritation showing as he placed his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "Now that you're here, we can begin whatever it is you have lined up for me."

Perseus had always known that when the old woman would smile, it meant bad things for him, but the way the evil looking smirk slowly made its way across her face as she stepped toward him, he could have sworn her teeth looked to be as sharp and pointed as a shark's.

"What we're going to be doing this evening, honey, is finally getting some truth out of you!" As she spoke her voice seemed to change with each syllable, until it sounded like her throat was raw and damaged. "Now tell me, _where_ - _is_ - _it?_"

Something in him told Perseus that showing the fear that he was feeling right now would be a very unwise thing to do. "What are you talking about?" He asked, keeping his panic out of his voice better than he had hoped he would be able to.

"Do not lie to me boy," she hissed. Perseus was now sure her teeth were sharp points. "You will tell me where you've hidden it, or I will get it out of you... forcibly!" The way she said the last part left no doubt in his mind that she would enjoy nothing more than to force him to talk. What she wanted him to talk about, he didn't know.

"If you're not going to talk any sense, I'm going to go back to my room." Perseus made to walk by Ms. Dobbs, but was brought to his knees as a long talon hand wrapped around his forearm, squeezing like a vice.

"Honey," she said, as his gaze traveled up the arm attached to the talon hand, past a pair of leathery bat like wings jutting out of her back, before finally coming to a stop as his brilliant green eyes met a pair of molten pools of lava. "That was the wrong answer!"

Perseus didn't know what happened next as he then woke up on the other side of the gym, his entire body screaming in pain. Pushing himself up on shaking arms, he had just enough time to see the – _thing_ - that was Ms. Dobbs take flight.

"Damn, I knew she was an old bat, but this is ridiculous," Perseus moaned, as he pushed himself up the rest of the way.

"Tell me where it is!" She roared, as she dived at him from above.

Perseus barely had enough time to roll out of the way of the creature as it flew through the spot he had been standing in just seconds before. Getting back to his feet, he made for the entrance only to have something hit him in the back that sent him flying through the air and crashing into a set of bleachers. He felt an explosion of pain in his spine and ribs at the same time the wood he rocketed into buckled, before breaking from the force of his crash.

"Have you had enough yet," she asked, in a sweet voice that she knew the boy hated. "This is nothing compared to what I can do, and will do, if you do not tell me what I want to know!"

"Listen you giant turkey looking bitch," Perseus spat, as he rose up on to his knees. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm going to kick your old, wrinkly ass for that!" Pushing himself up the rest of the way, he was able to sneak a piece of the splintered wood that had broken off after he had been thrown into the bleachers, intent on using it as a weapon. He didn't know what good it would do him, but it was better than nothing.

"Aw," Ms. Dobbs said in a sickly sweet baby voice, "Does the young hero think he can beat little old me? Then let's see what you're capable of, shall we?"

Faster than she had the first time, she dove at Perseus, but before she could reach him, a spear covered in lightning flew through her wings sending her crashing harshly into the floor, where she rolled and tumbled until she hit the bleachers coming to a stop.

Perseus gaped at what he had seen, looking to see where the weapon had come from he saw both Thalia and Annabeth standing in the threshold to the gym.

"Barbie and the valley girl, to the rescue!" Perseus announced, sounding like a Saturday morning cartoon. Everything that was happening was starting to get to him.

"It's not over yet," Annabeth said in a business like voice, paying his words no mind as she pulled a Yankee's cap from her back pocket, slipping it on and disappearing.

Perseus didn't have enough time to say anything about her disappearing act as the monster nimbly jumped to her feet and charged at him, letting out a howl of rage.

Time slowed down for Perseus, from across the room he could hear both girls yelling for him to move, and could see each step Ms. Dobbs took, bringing her closer and closer to ripping him too shreds with those knife like talons of hers.

As he took in his surroundings, he could feel the ground just below the surface of the gym floor. It felt as if the world itself was telling him that it would be alright, that it would protect him. Ms. Dobbs chose that moment to unleash her loudest scream yet, as if she wanted him to know he was only a few feet away from his death.

Wishing for anything at all to stop her, he felt a shift in the earth below. Before he could fully register the feeling, he suddenly wasn't the only one to feel a shift, as the entire building had started to shake and groan as if the soil below them all was answering his very call.

Perseus, Thalia, and Annabeth, watched as the now off-balanced Mrs. Dobbs was pierced by multiple spikes of earth that had shot through the wooden floor, turning her to a fine golden dust that disappeared as quickly as she had.

The room turned completely silent, the only sound coming from a car alarm outside. Perseus was sure the earthquake that he had caused had set it off.

'Wait!" He thought nervously. 'Earthquake I caused? How could I cause an earthquake? It's just not possible! But if that's true, then what did cause it?'

Perseus was brought out of his mini panic attack by the sound of Thalia whistling.

"Damn, now that's what I call _power_," she said grinning, at the same time as Annabeth reappeared then took off her cap. Perseus didn't know if the look she was giving him was good or not, but he could see the spark of something that he guessed was the beginning of respect.

"Which do you think, Beth, underworld, or sea?" Thalia asked, giving Annabeth a look he couldn't read.

"I don't know, it could be either one. Both of their children have been known to be able to control the earth." The blonde pocketed her cap, turning to face the other girl, finally taking her eyes off the unspeaking boy. "Is it wrong that I hope it's underworld," she asked in an aggravated voice? Thalia didn't answer her; instead, she laughed, causing the blonde to scowl lightly at her.

Perseus having had enough of being left out took a hasty step forward, but regretted his actions immediately as his body reminded him, of how he had become the bats hacky sack.

Gritting his teeth, he walked up to the girls, causing the light bickering of the two to come to a stop. "What the hell is going on," he demanded. "What was that thing and why the hell don't either of you seem surprised that the old bat, turned into an actual old bat?"

Both girls shared a look that seemed to say that this wasn't the first time they had to clue someone in. Annabeth turning her attention on him, gave him a pitying look and was about to answer him, when the sound of voices from outside could be heard heading towards them.

"There's no time for answers right now," Annabeth told him, as she grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the back exit. "For now, we have to get out of here. Thalia, hurry up!"

Glancing over at the dark haired girl, Perseus saw her pick up the spear that had brought Ms. Dobbs down to earth. He felt his eyes widen as the weapon turned into a small canister of mace that the girl pocketed right away.

Perseus shook his head as he let himself be dragged. "Yup," he muttered to himself. "God hates me!"

* * *

AN: Just to clear it up, Perseus is 12, Annabeth is 13(both like canon), and Thalia is 12. Why Thalia isn't a tree might be shown next chapter, if not it will be shown in the one after it.

Also if anyone ever wants to know the status of this story, check out my profile. There I keep the number of reviews, favs, alerts, and other things posted.

I've been asked if Gods from other cultures will be added to the story and to be honest, I have no idea! There may be later on, but for the time only the Greek gods will show up.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter of IDC:LT, if so leave me a review!


	3. Chapter 3 Hidden Worlds-Escaping-Pizza

Update 10/27: props to Joe Lawyer for beta'ing

AN: Sorry for the long wait, but my beta and I have had little contact since last chapter and I have yet to get this chapter back from him. Meaning, this chapter is unbeta'd, and since all the English I know is self taught, it might not be as good as normal. If someone out there reading this would like to beta it send me a PM and we'll see what we can do. I know I'm more than likely missing a lot of things I want to tell you all, but I'm in such a rush at the moment that I can't think what they would be. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Perseus sat on his dorm room floor, his back placed firmly against his door as he stared at the two beauties known as Annabeth Chase and Thalia Grace, both of whom were sitting across from him on his bed, waiting for his reaction.

The trio had made it to his dorm room safely and without being discovered after the events taking place in the gym had drawn the attention of the... 'Mortals'?

Perseus had been more than a little keyed up once they had come to a stop. How was it that he, a boy who had only just recently become something other than a midget, been able to move the earth as he had? Why had his math teacher, turned bat, wanted to kill him so badly? And finally, why was it that they, Mr. Brunner's 'nieces', seemed to find nothing shocking, amazing, or even out of the ordinary about what they had witnessed? These were just a few of the questions that he had 'asked' them and answer him they did.

Clearing his throat. he looked between the blonde girl who was looking back expectantly and the girl with a light scattering of freckles that seemed to be amused by him. "So, you're telling me that the Greek myths are very much real?" He knew that even though he believed them, he was more than likely wearing a look that said the opposite.

"Correct."

"Pretty much."

"And the both of you are children of... Gods?" Annabeth and Thalia nodded. "And so am I?" Again, nods answered him. "So you're telling me that all powerful beings run around getting and knocking others up?"

Thalia snorted, but didn't deny his words. "Yes, they tend to get distracted very easily." Annabeth had a look of disgust on her face.

"Haven't they ever heard of condoms... or pulling out?" Perseus asked seriously.

Thalia burst out in raucous laughter as her friend rolled her eyes at her childishness. "They see us, demi gods, as a gift to their mortal lovers," Annabeth informed him. From the tone of her voice Perseus could tell she didn't agree with the gods on that particular subject. "But more often than not, the child is seen as a burden and they suffer for the godly parent's indiscretion. It is very rare for demigods to have any semblance of a normal, let alone happy life."

Perseus didn't know what to say to that. While his life had never been normal, from trips around the world, to never wanting for anything that was within reason, he had always had a very good relationship with his mom and dad. Up until a year ago, the most he ever had to complain about was his height, and he was sure had there been any way for his mother or father to solve that problem they would have. He had always known that he was lucky, but only now did he realize just how lucky.

He left his musing to once again take in the appearance of his company. The feeling of acceptance and hunger he had experienced when he first saw them was back in full force. He had seen more than his fair share of pretty girls, hell, in the past few months he had even spent some very enjoyable one-on-one time with some of the better looking ones, but never before had members of the opposite sex effected him so. This puzzled him greatly and the only reason he could come up with for the strange feelings was that maybe it had something to do with their godly parent!

"If you don't mind me asking," Perseus said, getting questioning looks from the other two, "who are your parents - the god one? Aphrodite?"

An almost insulted look crossed Thalia's face, while Annabeth did look insulted and a little angry. "Gods no," Thalia groaned, wrinkling her nose. "What would give you that idea?"

Perseus' cheeks slightly tinged red as he glanced back-and-forth between Thalia and Annabeth. "Well, I just thought... I mean, with the way..." He stopped trying to talk and sighed, hating his own cowardice.

"Just look at the two of you," Perseus said, without hesitation this time. "You have to be the two most gorgeous girls I've ever met. It's only natural I would assume that the two of you were related to her!"

Annabeth shook her head at him, a small scowl on her lips as her cheeks tinted red, despite her best efforts to not show how his words had affected her. "No," she said sharply. "We are not daughters of Aphrodite. I am a daughter of Athena, Goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, useful arts, defense and battle strategy."

Thalia, whose face was still a pretty pink color, took this chance to tell about her own godly parent hoping to distract him from her blush. "My father is Zeus, God of honor, justice, lightning, and the skies."

"Nice," Perseus commented looking impressed. Thalia and Annabeth looked to be expecting something, what, he didn't know. "So, Athena huh?"

Annabeth and Thalia shared surprised looks. Both were impressed by the direction he was taking the conversation. Usually, when people first heard who their parents were, they would bombard Thalia with questions about her father.

"Yes," Annabeth said defensively, not used to people wanting to talk about the only parent who showed any sign of caring for her. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Perseus looked taken aback by the aggression in her voice. He decided that it would be best to tread carefully from here on out. "I meant no offense," he said, raising his hands calmingly. "I was just under the impression that Athena was a virgin Goddess. I'm guessing that a majority of what mortals teach is wrong if they can't get a goddess' maiden status right."

"Oh," she said, her surprise showing on her face. "Athena is a virgin goddess. And you'd be right about them being wrong about many things." Her shock gave way to a look that spoke of regret. "And - uh, sorry for snapping at you," she apologized sincerely.

Perseus looked at her as if she had grown a second head, before turning to look at Thalia who was wearing a knowing smile. "Um - I don't know how to tell you this Wise girl, but when a man and a women love each other very, very much, or they're both very drunk-"

Annabeth realized where he was going with the conversation, resulting in her blushing as she cut him off. "I know how children are created," she snapped, ignoring Thalia who was clutching her sides laughing at them. "Athena doesn't have children in the conventional way! She uses her mind to create her children, in the same way that she was brought into this world."

"Something tells me Zeus doesn't use the same method," Perseus said, turning to Thalia to see her sobering up at his words.

"No, he doesn't," Thalia scowled. Her father was a hot button issue for her; any time he was brought up it was like it would suck all of the fun out of the room for her.

Perseus seeing how Thalia acted at the mention of her father decided to change the subject to make things easier on her. "So where does 'uncle' Brunner and Grover fit in to all of this?" He couldn't help the disbelieving look that crossed his face as he spoke. There was no way they were related and he honestly felt a bit insulted that Mr. Brunner would think he would buy that they were.

"Well, you remember the camp we told you about?" Annabeth asked. He had just confirmed her suspicion that he hadn't bought them being related to Chiron. Getting a nod from the green eyed boy she pressed on. "Well first off, Mr. Brunner's name isn't Mr. Brunner. Nor is Grover who you think he is. They're..."

Perseus had sat back and listened to the girl for the better part of an hour as she had explained who his favorite teacher and best friend really were. He could honestly see why they had lied to him; it was not only to protect him, but to also make it easier to do so. However, even if all that was true it didn't change how betrayed he now felt. Was Mr. Brunner, or should he say Chiron so nice and understanding only because Perseus was a job for him? And what about his supposedly best friend Grover? Did he only hang out with him because he saw him as a way to get his searcher's license and nothing more?

Perseus let out a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair, both signs of how tired he was. The day had thrown so much at him, from a sucktastic field trip; to learning his real father had more than likely not given two shits about his mother, and finally learning the truth about the people he was closest to outside his family. His nerves, to say the very least, were shot.

"I hope I don't come off sounding like an ass when I ask this," Perseus said, speaking for the first time since Annabeth had given him the run down on his favorite teacher and best friend. "But is it common for Satyrs and Centaurs to run around disguised as people with leg deformities? I really don't feel like being the guy who stares at those who are crippled, but I feel like I'll never be able to be in a room with someone on crutches or in a wheelchair again without expecting them to have a furry ass hidden somewhere!"

"Add smart ass to being a trouble maker," Thalia said laughing. "Sorry, but most satyrs do wear that type of disguise. It's the only way for them to get around unnoticed. Though it would be pretty funny to know what the mortals would see if he didn't hide his, as you say, 'furry ass'!"

Perseus and Thalia shared a laugh as Annabeth started muttering something about 'Big three children' and 'idiots'.

Perseus after calming down a bit decided to ask about something that had been worrying him since he had learned that the Greek gods and all that came with them were real. "I don't know if I should be worried about this or not, but seeing as you two know him and his kind better than anyone else I know, I'm hoping you can give me a straight answer."

"What would you like to know?" Annabeth asked, happy to bestow knowledge to someone.

"Well, in the Greek myths, they say that Satyrs were a bit... uh - aggressive in their sexual advances with women." As he spoke a look mixed with loathing and hopefulness crossed his handsome face. "Now I don't see Grover as being the type to do that sort of thing, but then again if you had told me he was a goat from the waist down a few days ago I would have taken you to a psych ward."

A look of understanding crossed both girls' faces. "First off, no, that is not true," Annabeth informed him, smiling lightly when he looked relieved. Most who knew of the old stories that mortals told, skipped over the supposedly dark history of the Greeks and focused solely on what they would gain from joining their world. To see someone, let alone a teenage boy, worrying about the safety of others gained him more than a few points in her book. "'Rape' doesn't mean today what it did back then. In these times it means a terrible, and tragic act has taken place against someone, but back in the time when Gods ruled openly, it meant 'to carry off'."

"Yes, it was common when a god, or satyr, was to 'carry off' a maiden, a child would result of it," she admitted, though how someone could do 'that' with a person who abducted them she would never know. "But more times than not, that was a result of the god, or satyr seducing the one they had kidnapped."

"Aphrodite is very vocal against such acts," Thalia put in, with a deep respect in her voice for the woman who she didn't otherwise agree with on many a view. "And while most of the gods and goddesses are against it, the only other two that I know of that take as strong a view as she does against such acts, are Athena and Artemis."

"That's good to know," Perseus sighed, his relief showing on his face, before a serious look showed up taking its place. "I was half expecting to walk into a world full of rapists," he said, shaking his head.

A deep silence fell between the three as they didn't know where to go from there. What could one say after having talked about such a heavy subject, especially when those discussing it were barely teenagers? When the quiet of the room was finally broken, it was done so by Perseus.

"So where are my two 'protectors' at any way," he asked sarcastically, a dark smirk playing on his lips. "By the way, I didn't say it before, but thank you both for saving me back there. I would have been heartbroken had something happened to my favorite person." His smirk turning into a cheeky smile as he spoke.

Thalia returned his smile with an equally cheeky one of her own. "Yeah, that would have just been tragic!"

"Now why does it feel like you don't mean that," he asked her with a fake pout that made both girls giggle.

"I didn't really do anything, but from how things turned out it didn't look like you needed our help in the end anyway," Annabeth mused, as she eyed him once more. "Chiron had to go back to camp, and asked Grover to go with him. Knowing you may need protecting, he asked Thalia and me to watch over you while they were away."

Perseus thought about that. From what the girls had told him, once you became aware that monsters actually existed, the more they would be attracted to you. If this was in fact the case then it was likely that once school ended he would be forced to go straight to camp half blood, if they didn't make him go right away. Meaning he wouldn't get a chance to see his mother and father for who knew how long of a time. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get these two to keep what had taken place a secret!

"From what I've gathered, when Chiron finds out about this he's probably going to ship me off to camp right away," Perseus pondered aloud, getting looks from them that told him he wasn't wrong. "And like you've said, I won't be able to see my mom and dad for a while."

"That's true," Annabeth agreed slowly, trying to figure out where he was trying to go with the conversation.

"I was wondering if it would be alright to keep what's happened today a secret." Perseus had hoped that he could persuade them, but that hope died as soon as he saw the look of rejection on both their faces.

"Sorry, but that's not happening," Thalia said apologetically. "Don't get us wrong, if it was as simple as lying it wouldn't be problem. It's just that now that you're aware of them, the monsters will be coming with a greater resolve than before."

"From what Chiron and Grover have told us," Annabeth cut in, "they're already having a hard time protecting you with you sitting still in one place. And while it won't happen right away, monsters will start coming after you faster than before. You only have a week of school left and I doubt by the end of that time you'll be able to walk down the street without some kind of trouble popping up."

"Is it normal for demigods to be this hunted?" Perseus questioned, it seemed to him that having one of the Furies after you made you a big target. "Or am I just being dramatic, when I say that I feel like the walls are closing in on me?"

"Dramatic," Thalia quipped, smiling to let him know she was just joking. "The reason we think the monsters want you so badly is that we think you're a child of one of the big three!"

Perseus was shocked to hear this. He had figured out his powers, if anything to go by from his earlier display, would be stronger than the norm for a demi god, but to be a child to one of the more powerful gods was something he would have never expected.

Scrunching his face up in confusion, he attempted to speak a few times as he tried to remember what they had said earlier about the ban on the big three having children. "I thought you said they made a vow to keep from siring any more children with mortals..." Then it hit him, if they had in fact followed the vow then that would have meant that Thalia wouldn't be in front of him now sitting cross legged on his bed. Looking her in the eye he could see that she knew what he had just figured out. "And I'm guessing that a vow between them is about as meaningful as a pinky promise to a convict!"

"That's putting it lightly," Thalia affirmed, looking sour about the whole thing.

"Since I was able to cause an earthquake, I'm guessing Zeus isn't my biological father," Perseus said sounding relieved. Annabeth gave him a questioning look, while Thalia just looked at him with amusement. "What? I don't like Zeus, or at least what think I know about him, and to be honest the other two sound just as bad!"

Annabeth didn't say anything to that, settling instead to give him a look of understanding. Though she would never voice it, she did agree with him; her mother, like many of the other gods, may have been very prideful, but Zeus and his two brothers took it to a whole other level.

"Your father could be Poseidon or Hades, either one. Both have had children with control over the earth, though from what history shows us children of Hades usually have better control than those Poseidon's sires."

"Great, I'm the spawn of the devil," he deadpanned, drawing a snort from Annabeth and a chuckle from Thalia. "What? Like it wouldn't be a little off putting to the both of you too, to know your father was red and has horns!"

Waiting for the girls to stop laughing, Perseus decided to try a different approach to get what he wanted. "How about this," he said garnering their attention. "Why don't I just go see my mom and dad now?"

"We're supposed to watch you," Annabeth said seriously. "It would be too dangerous for us to chance!"

"You just said that the monsters wouldn't start hounding me for at least another week," Perseus countered. "That means that when school lets out I won't be able to go near them, without chancing them getting hurt!"

"This way, I can go see them, say my goodbyes, then head straight to Camp Half Blood." Perseus tried putting on his best puppy dog look, but was shut down by the unaffected and bored look Annabeth gave him in return.

"You know, he has a point," Thalia said, turning to her best friend, smirking when Perseus perked up at her agreeing with him. "Plus, we never get a chance to get away from camp. This way we can help him out and see some sights at the same time."

Annabeth looked to be wavering under the combined assault. "But we... we don't have any money," she said weakly. She knew she had lost when she saw Perseus amazing green eyes light up victoriously.

"Money isn't a problem," he grinned. Digging into his pocket he pulled out a debit card, holding it up for them to see. "Have any other excuses you want to try, or are we going to go?" Annabeth glared at him with her arms crossed, looking the epitome of stubborn.

"Fine," she relented, to the cheers of the other two, "but I want to get a pizza! Eating the same things all the time gets annoying," she finished, smiling lightly, the good mood of the others getting to her.

Wanting to leave sooner rather than later, Perseus jumped to his feet only to fall to his knees groaning. The beating he had taken earlier coupled with not moving for such a long time had made his entire body sore. He was barely able to raise his head as the two girls kneeled beside him looking worried about his condition.

"Sore... everything sore," he moaned. It was too much for Thalia to not snicker at his condition. "Laugh it up, Barbie," Perseus tried glowering at her, but a spasm made itself known at that second, causing him to groan.

Annabeth ignored their back and forth as she dug through her backpack pulling out a baggy full of cubes and a water bottle full of what looked like apple juice before tapping him on the shoulder and holding it out for him to take. "Take this and you'll feel better." He had slowly been able to straighten out and was reaching for the offered food when she pulled it away with a serious look crossing her features. "But don't take too much, or it will kill you!"

Perseus fixed her with a dubious look. "You really know how to reassure someone," he quipped sarcastically.

"Just drink it, or you can forget about going to see your parents," she said evenly.

Taking the offered bottle and baggy he gave her a defiant look. "I was just making it seem like the two of you had any say," he told her smugly. He gained a mischievous smile at their shock. "I was going to go see my parents either way, I only offered for you to come along so that you two wouldn't be worried that you had lost me, and I had run off and gotten myself killed."

Popping three of the cubes into his mouth, he was pleasantly surprised to find that they tasted like his mother's chocolate chip cookies. The same could be said for when he drank the juice looking beverage. He was going to have to get hurt more often!

"Thanks," he exclaimed exuberantly. "That has to be the best medicine I've ever had."

Annabeth snatched it out of his hands as she gave him a black look. "That's to help us heal should we get into trouble," she barked, upset about what he had said seconds before.

Shrugging off her anger, Perseus slowly stood up, testing his body for anymore random pains and was happy to find none. In working condition once more, he quickly started packing all of his belongings, leaving his school uniform and other thing behind that he knew he would never use again. Having grabbed everything he would need or want, he turned to see the girls giving him sour looks. Guessing what they were upset about he thought it would be best to attempt to apologize to them.

"Listen, I was upset when I said that earlier," he told them staring at the floor, his dress shoe covered foot toeing his carpet. "My temper has a hair trigger attached to it. The smallest of things can easily set me off. So when you said that about not seeing my parents I just wanted a way to get back at you."

Neither Annabeth, nor Thalia, had been expecting him to come out and apologize the way he had. It made Annabeth realize how threatening him with not seeing his parents had made him feel and how she had gone too far in doing so.

"Don't be sorry," she said, biting her lip. "I should never have threatened you with keeping you away from your family. I can understand how that could have made you upset."

"Plus, don't worry about the anger issues," Thalia said, waving her hands as if she was shooing them away. "Most demigods have the same problem." An evil smirk crossed her face as she looked to her best friend. "You should see how snappy this one gets when she doesn't get her way."

Annabeth scoffed, though she looked more amused than upset. "Please! I'm not the one who runs around shocking people when they don't follow her orders," she shot back, looking triumphant.

Perseus chuckled at the two as he grabbed a change of clothes. "I hate to break up what I'm sure would be a very entertaining fight," he said, ending their bickering. "But I'm going to go change. It would draw more than a few looks if I were to walk around this dirty. I suggest you two change as well." He had started for his bathroom door when he saw the girls looking embarrassed.

"Okay, did I say something wrong," he asked looking puzzled.

"We only brought weapons and things of the like with us," Thalia muttered, not meeting his eyes. "We thought we'd be here an hour at the most, so we didn't bring a change of clothing."

"Oh, well that's no problem," Perseus said nonchalantly, while walking over to where he kept the clothes he couldn't fit into any more. "You can use some of the stuff I was going to leave behind."

Thalia and Annabeth stared at him incredulously. "I don't know if you've noticed it yet or not, but you're more than a few sizes larger than we are," Thalia stated, giving his arms and chest a longer than necessary once over.

"Believe it or not," he said with his back to them, as he pulled out an entire wardrobe, "at the beginning of the year, I was even shorter than Barbie is now!"

"I am not short," Thalia objected, crossing her arms fuming. "I'm the perfect height for someone my age! You're the one who's got the abnormal height."

Perseus chuckled as he laid their choices out for them on his bed. "There is nothing wrong with a short girl," he told her, standing back so she and Annabeth could look over what he had. "Some guys like girls that are shorter than they are... it's cute." Walking toward the bathroom he didn't see Thalia light up like a Christmas tree.

"Yell when you're dressed," he called over his shoulder while entering the bathroom. He was about to close the door when he stopped to smile cheekily at them. "Take too long finding what you want to wear and I'll have to come help you pick something out."

"You wouldn't dare," Annabeth hissed, her eyes turning to slits as she reached for the dagger on her side. Thalia had covered her hand in lightning, raising an eyebrow at him that clearly said 'Do you want to keep what makes you the opposite sex?'

Perseus slammed the door shut, fearful for his own safety. "It was a joke," he yelled through the door. "No need to get violent!"

On the other side of the door, Annabeth and Thalia smiled victoriously at one another, giving each other a high five for a job well done.

It only took the girls a few minutes to find acceptable clothing for themselves and had called out to Perseus that it was safe for him to return.

"You both look great in those... better than I ever did," he said chuckling.

"Well of course we do," Thalia replied impishly as she gave what he was wearing a look. "I can see your style changed with your growth spurt!" He had put on a simple pair of black skinny jeans with a white shirt and black vest on top.

"You could say that," he nodded. "I used to wear nothing but shorts." Both girls were dressed similarly to each other in cargo shorts and cotton tees Thalia's being black while Annabeth had gone with gray.

"It's almost completely dark out," Annabeth commented peering out the room's only window. "We should hurry up and head out if we're going to do this."

"Let's head for the front gate, while I'll call us a taxi-" Perseus began, only to be cut off.

"No!" Thalia and Annabeth exclaimed, the former checking his hands to make sure he hadn't started calling anyone yet. "Anytime a demigod uses a cell phone they alert all of the monsters near them of their location."

Digging in to his pocket he pulled out an expensive looking phone. "I guess this is nothing more than a paper weight now," he sighed, pocketing it. "We'll need to get off campus and then find a cab. Depending on what time it is, we can decide if we want to have some fun tonight, or head to my place and wait till morning before we do what you guys want to."

Perseus followed by his protectors headed for the door only to find Grover on the other side his hand raised to knock. The group of three stared at the half boy, half goat as he did the same to them, all of them wearing looks of surprise.

"H-hey Perseus... Annabeth, Thalia," Grover greeted nervously, his hand clasped in front of him fidgeting. "What are all of you doing here... together?" His eyes were flashing back and forth between his best friend and the girls he had known for years as he tried to communicate with the girls.

"Funny story actually," Perseus almost hissed as he wrapped his arm around the satyr's shoulder and steered him toward the exit of the school. "We just happened to run into each other and hit it off. They told me how you had gone off with Mr. Brunner somewhere and how you two left them to entertain themselves."

As Perseus' grip on Grover's shoulder became increasingly tighter, they traveled down the hall with Annabeth and Thalia silently following. "Me being the gentlemen that I am, I offered to take them out to dinner." Grover could tell his friend was barely containing his anger at the moment. What he couldn't figure out though was why he was angry in the first place. "Since you're back earlier than expected why don't you join us? I've heard of this nice little spot that serves mutton." Grover nearly lost control over his bladder when he heard this. "Now I know you're a vegetarian, but everyone likes a little bit of goat every once in a while!"

Grover was fighting to keep from losing the cans he had snacked on earlier and failed to hear Annabeth and Thalia's barely stifled giggles. Swallowing the lump in his throat he gave Perseus a forced smile. "I-I think I'll pass, but thank you for offering."

Grover attempted to pull away from his friend, failing to see that Perseus was leading him to his dorm room. "Nah, G-man you're coming with us," Perseus said, leaving no room for argument. "If you won't eat, then the least you can do is be there as we have that goatee goodness."

Grover whimpered from under Perseus' arm making the boy feel slightly bad for messing with his friend. Sighing to himself he decided to let him know that he knew what was going on. "And here is the best part," Perseus exclaimed excitedly, earning a dread filled groan from Grover. "Ms. Dobbs is coming with us." Ignoring Grover's look of shock, he continued, "Then when we're done eating she's going to take us to this really neat camp for special peopl-"

"Bla-ha-ha!" Grover laughed, not sounding amused as he shoved the taller boy away at the same time Thalia and Annabeth lost their fight against containing their laughter. "You're an ass Perseus! And you two," he said, turning to glare at the two girls he had known since they had been small little girls, "you just stand their making me think that you're going to make me watch that."

Perseus walked over to his friend and without any warning started digging in the other boy's pocket. Grover who didn't know what he was trying to do screeched as he attempted to get away, but before he could distance himself from his friend, Perseus had his room key in hand. It was at this point that he realized they had stopped outside his dorm room.

"What are we doing here, and why do you know about... what you know," Grover finished lamely as Perseus opened his door.

"We are going to go see my parents, have a little fun and then head to camp," Perseus told him as he entered the room and dropping the gym bag he had all his things in. Looking through the room he finally come across a back pack that he handed to the satyr with an expectant look. When Grover didn't move from his spot, just standing there looking at him, Perseus sighed. "Listen, I'm going and there's nothing you can do about it man. Now if you want to come along that's fine, but if not, then this is where we part ways."

Grover was at a loss for words, turning he looked to the females of the group both of whom shrugged their shoulders at him.

"Sorry Grover, but we hardly ever get a chance to get away from camp," Thalia explained, as she took the satyr's bag before heading over to Perseus who was pulling clothes from Grover's closet. "This way we get some free time, while Perseus gets to see his parents."

Grover, seeing a lost cause, turned from the stubborn twosome to Annabeth hoping to reason with her. "Tell me they didn't get to you too," he begged, but knew by the guilty look on her face that she was a part of their little rebellion. "Annabeth, you know how dangerous this could get. Why would you risk something like this?"

Annabeth wilted under Grover's, for once, stern gaze. "I wanted to get out for a while," she muttered, looking at the floor.

Grover shook his head in disbelief. "Have you two forgotten about Luke's sacrifice so easily?"

Perseus didn't know who Luke was, but he did know that Grover had stood – no, he had jumped on with both feet, a landmine. The girls had both tensed, and from how they were glaring at the awkward looking teen, Perseus was guessing barely keeping from beating him within an inch of his life.

"How dare you throw him in our faces like that?" Thalia's hands were sparking with electricity, so much so that everyone in the rooms hair was reacting to the static. "This situation is totally different from last time."

"Hades was angry about Zeus breaking the vow last time," Annabeth said, sounding strangely calm for someone who was shaking as much as she was. "This time, no one knows who his godly parent is, or if he even belongs to one of the big three."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, not meeting any of their gazes. "I should never have brought Luke up. But have none of you seen the weather lately," Grover continued, looking grim. "Something has Zeus beyond pissed! If he finds out about him," here he jerked a finger at Perseus who for some reason felt a bit insulted by the pointing, but said nothing, "then there will be hell to pay. Hades isn't the only god that can send monsters to do his bidding."

Thalia scoffed like she didn't care, but the others could still see the anger in her eyes even if the lightning had died away. "He wouldn't do anything if it meant risking me." She turned back to his closet grabbing the last few things he owned and stuffing them in the close to bursting backpack.

Letting the punk princess finish with the packing, Perseus turned to the only other male in the room. "You can't stop us from going," he told him bluntly. "But if you come with us, when we reach camp won't that look good on you? You might even get your searcher's license, and if it will help, the girls and I would be okay with you telling them that when you showed up we were already gone and that you had to track us down to make us come to camp."

Everyone has a price that can buy them and it seemed in that moment Perseus had found Grover's.

The whiskered chinned boy's shoulders slumped at that, knowing that his friend's plan would help him greatly. He hadn't said anything to anyone, but he had a feeling that the Council of Cloven Elders was not going to look at his time here at Yancy as a success. They were more than likely to point out that he had not been the only one protecting Perseus all this time, but that ultimately he had required the help of Chiron to do his job. And while Grover was sure the trainer of heroes wouldn't see the situation the same way, and would voice this to his fellow council members, he would undoubtedly be the only one to feel that way.

Grover was pulled from his musing by his backpack, which now resembled a blow fish in its shape flying into his stomach. Wincing, he looked up to see two smirks and an encouraging smile being sent his way.

"Fine," he sighed. "Let's go!"

"Alright, follow me," Perseus ordered, as he opened the door leading the group out in to the hall. "I know where a break in the fence is that everyone uses to sneak off the grounds."

The foursome where able to get outside and in to the woods unseen and without any hang ups. From there they moved alongside the same dirt road that one had to use when entering the school grounds. With Grover not having to pretend that he had to use crutches, the group was able to make good time and before they knew it they had come to a clearing where a number of the bars from the fence had been removed by students who wanted a way to leave the school grounds. The only problem being that as they exited the woods they found that they were not the only ones trying to sneak off campus.

Perseus and Grover groaned in unison when Nancy and her group exited the woods on the other side of the clearing at the same time as they did.

Nancy had been complaining to her friends when she heard groaning. Her eyes widened when she saw that the two she had been cursing just seconds before were standing before her. She was about to make a smart remark about their sexuality when she spotted the two girls standing next to them causing her eyes to narrow as she felt her anger rise.

"Who are the tramps, Jackson," Nancy sneered, not seeing, nor caring about Thalia and Annabeth's resentful looks.

"I'd be careful if I were you Nancy," Perseus warned, his tone sounding smug. He was hoping the girl would piss off the two female demigods to the point where they would kick her and her friends' asses. "These two don't go to school here and would have no qualms about beating the ginger out of you."

Nancy gritted her teeth loudly and painfully. "You can't find any girls that would look at you here at school, so you had to go find ones that would give you the time of day outside the academy." A cruel smirk had made its way to her lips as she looked Thalia and Annabeth over. She was unwilling to admit how jealous of their looks she was; instead she chose to lash out at them. "And from the looks of them, you and the cripple went to the local deaf and blind school to find them."

Annabeth's lips had thinned in distaste. How anyone could make such disgusting jokes, she didn't know, but right now wasn't the time to deal with ignorant people. They needed to hurry if they wanted to make it to Perseus' before midnight. Seeing that Thalia was about to snap, she grabbed her by the arm, pulling her toward the break in the fence and away from the mean girl.

"Come on," Annabeth ordered, in a forced sounding calm voice. "We don't have time to deal with little girls throwing hissy fits." Thalia bit her tongue as she allowed herself to be pulled away, but this didn't stop her from flipping the redhead off.

Nancy laughed mockingly, as the girls, followed by Perseus and Grover, made to leave. "I guess I was wrong," she called to the retreating group. "Even they won't give you the time of day! You've turned these whores into dykes!"

"Bitch, you don't know us," Thalia screamed, wrenching herself free of Annabeth's grip. Grover and Perseus were both shocked she hadn't fried them all with her lightning yet. "Annabeth might not think we have the time to kick your asses, but I'm more than willing to _make_ the time."

Annabeth stood back, watching with the boys as Thalia was advanced on by three of the girls, none of whom were the loud mouthed redhead herself.

"You're not going to help her," Perseus asked, sounding worried about the girl he enjoyed calling Barbie. He was starting to think he should have stepped in before it had gotten out of hand.

"No," Annabeth answered negatively. "The one time I tried to help her in a fight that didn't include monsters she nearly bit my head off afterwards. It's just easier to let her work out her anger on her own."

Two of the three attacking girls reached Thalia at the same time. Without dropping into a fighting stance or breaking her stride, Thalia's right hand shot out, balled in a fist that caught the first girl across the face making a loud, nasty sounding smack, before she swung the same hand backwards and into the chin of the other girl, dropping them both in seconds.

"Damn, Barbie can hit," Perseus said, sounding impressed.

The third girl faltered only for a second, the sight of her two friends being knocked out so easily planting a small seed of doubt in her mind that made her question whether or not she could beat the girl before her. Shaking it off she told herself that the girl had gotten lucky and wouldn't do so again.

Thalia ducked under the wild swing of the third and largest girl yet. Rising up, she brought her fist straight up and into the girls chin in a powerful upper cut that snapped her head backwards violently, knocking her out before she even hit the ground.

Thalia was beaming as she turned to the wide eyed Nancy, giving her the 'come hither' motion with her middle finger. Nancy, showing that she actually had some sense, turned and booked it back to the academy leaving a pouting Thalia behind.

"Why are the loud mouths always the first to run?" Thalia asked, as a grinning Perseus and Grover walked over to her followed by a bored Annabeth.

"I think I might be in love with you, Barbie," Perseus said, giving the now lightly blushing daughter of Zeus a high five. "That was amazing! We've been waiting for someone to do that for ages."

Grover nodded excitedly at his side. "It's just too bad that you didn't get to do the same to Nancy."

"What can I say," Thalia said cockily, "this is one daughter of Zeus you just don't mess with!"

"Come on Ali," Annabeth called over her shoulder, as she once again headed for the break in the fence. "Grab your fan girls and let's go!"

Laughing at the looks of disgust on Perseus and Grover's faces, Thalia grabbed them by the wrist and led them toward the fence.

IDC:LT

"That cab smelled awful," Thalia grimaced, as Annabeth nodded beside her.

"What do you expect; he's a human who spends his entire day polluting the air with his car's fumes and his constant cigar smoke." Perseus raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic sneer that had arisen on Grover's face as he spoke about the cabbie.

"Grover has a problem with humans that pollute the air," Annabeth answered his unasked question as she looked around for their destination. "Where is this pizza place you were talking about and how far away from it is your parent's place?"

"The pizza shop is around the corner and my parent's place is just a few blocks away." Perseus said, already heading for the corner.

"Isn't this part of town too nice to have a decent pizza place," Thalia asked, as she and the other two jogged to catch up with the green eyed boy.

"Normally I would agree with you, but this place is fantastic!" He could feel his mouth watering already. "I'll order a couple of larges then we can take some as a peace offering to my parents."

Turning the corner a very nice looking restaurant came into sight. The building was made of brick, like most of the buildings in the area, giving it a rustic feel. Out front under a stream of Christmas lights and naturally growing vines were two tables with couples enjoying their meals.

When they entered the place of business they found themselves in a hall way that split in two different directions. Following Perseus the group went down the right and into a sports bar like area.

"If we had gone the other way, we would have went into the nicer part of this place made more for quiet dinners and dates." Perseus explained, as he led them up to the counter where a middle aged man was standing using a cloth to clean out a row of shot glasses sitting before him.

"What can I get you kids," he asked, laying the cloth and one of the small glasses down before pulling a pen and note pad out of his hip apron.

Giving their order they each clamed a stool at the bar. Settling in for a wait the demigods and satyr people-watched as they lightly chatted with one another, joking about how scared Grover had looked when he thought he was going to have to watch them eat goat.

"You said the camp is in Long Island right?" The two girls and one goat boy nodded. "Well, since it's too late to do anything besides going to an 18 and under club and I'm guessing you don't want to go to a place like that dressed the way you are?" He asked, looking amused as Annabeth and Thalia shook their heads vigorously 'that no they didn't'. "Then we can stop at this amusement park I've heard about on the way to camp." As he had spoken Perseus had turned around to face the barman, asking him if he could get him and his friends drinks while they waited.

"I'll bring those right out to you," he said, heading down the bar a ways to get glasses. As the barkeeper moved, a window that peered into the kitchen became unblocked for the first time since Perseus and his group had arrived.

Perseus, remembering how he had once gotten the chance to watch pizza being made in Italy when he had gone there with his mother and father, felt an urge to do so once again. Gazing into the busy kitchen, he searched for the pizza makers until he sighted three old ladies standing side by side rolling a long piece of flowery dough. Perseus didn't know why, but he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck and a cold sweat break out on his body as his eyes met three pairs of midnight black eyes. Something wasn't right about the three grannies that were staring at him and his group so intently.

"Um - guys," Perseus said, getting the others attention. "Does anything seem off to any of you about the granny triplets back there?"

Curious as to what he was talking about, the others turned to investigate the mysterious grannies. At first they thought he had been imagining it, but slowly as the old ladies worked the dough without ever looking away from their group they started to understand what had him so worked up. They were getting a feeling from the old women that was unlike any that they had felt from any monster that any of them had ever encountered before, but still somehow managed to hold onto the foreboding feeling.

"I'm a bit rusty on monsters that come in three," Perseus stated, never looking away from the elderly women. "Mind filling me in on a few of them?"

"There are numerous monsters that come in three," Annabeth informed him, though she, like him, never took her eyes off the threesome. "Three is a dangerous and powerful number in Greek culture, and if they were monsters we'd be in trouble right now. But I don't think they're monsters, powerful yes, but monsters, no!"

"She's right," Grover added, sounding like he wanted to leave. "They don't smell like monste-" Grover stopped talking at the same time the others stopped listening.

The three old ladies, who had up to that point been rolling one extremely long piece of dough, stopped. The two on the ends picked it up, the middle sagging under it its own weight as the grandma in the middle pulled out a pair of rusted old scissors that had no place in a working kitchen.

When the scissors came into view, Thalia, Grover, and Annabeth all gasped. Perseus, finally looking away from the trio, looked to see his friends looking as if someone had pulled a gun on them. Turning back to the grannies he was just in time to see the blades come into contact with the dough. It was then that it hit him as the barman came back into view, blocking what Perseus and the others were sure of as being the Fates cutting someone's string of fate.

"Here you are-" The barman had stopped speaking when he saw the pale faces of the four teenagers. "Are you kids alright?"

Surprisingly it was Grover who was the first to break the stupor they had all fallen into. "Yes sir, we're f-fine," he replied weakly. He waited until the man had walked away to rouse the others from their thoughts.

"That wasn't them," Perseus denied, though even he didn't believe his words. "It couldn't be... right?"

Thalia dropped her head loudly against the bar, drawing a few questioning looks from other patrons at the bar. "We're so screwed," she moaned. Trying to comfort the girl, Perseus reached out and rubbed her back soothingly causing her to give him a thankful smile.

"Maybe not," Annabeth put in. Her gray eyes looked unfocused as if she was lost in her thoughts. "Did any of you see them cut the string - or – um, dough?"

Thalia and Perseus both shook their heads negatively. "I didn't," Grover muttered, just loud enough for them to hear. None of the group checked to see what the three old women were doing now, they were all too afraid of what they might see.

"Then we might not have anything to worry about," she said, as her eyes once again came back into focus. "Maybe them appearing here, showing themselves to us, was a message of some sort!"

Perseus nodded, though he wasn't a hundred percent sure about anything at the moment. "I have a feeling that had they actually wanted one of us, or all of us, to see the dough being cut, then we would have." His words were met by a silence that lasted until the food showed up.

"I had thought about us grabbing a booth here, but with magic, killer grannies running around maybe it would be best if we go ahead and leave," Perseus suggested, earning nods and small laughter from the others.

As they made their way out of the bar area and back into the hallway leading outside and to the finer part of the restaurant, Thalia slowed down to walk beside Perseus who was carrying the pizzas.

"You know, all those smartass comments you like to make are going to get you in a lot of trouble if you're not careful," Thalia teased playfully, bumping shoulders with him.

Perseus smiled crookedly down at her as he held the door open for her. "Tell me something I don't know, Barbie!"

IDC:LT

"Ok, I'm going to need you to stand in front of me when we get up here," Perseus said to Grover as they rode the elevator up to the floor his parents' condo was on. "My mom is less likely to charge if she thinks there's a kid on crutches in the way."

Annabeth and Thalia shared a loaded look that Perseus couldn't read. Had his joke been that bad? "Your family isn't violent with you are they?" Annabeth and Thalia's fierce looks left no doubt that had his parent been that type of people they wouldn't have stood around and watched while it happened.

Hearing Annabeth's question, Perseus remembered that not all demigods had families as great as his own and that what he had just said could have been taken the wrong way.

"No," he exclaimed wide eyed. "I was just joking about her charging. She'll be upset that I left school without permission, but I doubt she'll even raise her voice." Both girls visibly calmed down hearing this.

The elevator came to a smooth stop and opened with a 'ding'. Following Perseus, which seemed to be a pattern popping up within the group, he led them to the only door on the floor where he knocked before stepping back to wait.

"Your mom and dad own the entire floor?" Annabeth asked, voicing Thalia's question at the same time.

"Yeah," he answered absentmindedly. "My mom's a successful writer and my step dad travels around giving lectures at different colleges around the country and in Europe. When we came to New York, we moved here because with my mother being so well known for her writing we needed a place with a lot of security. Or at least that's what she told me before... Now I'm guessing it had to do with who my father is and the chance that monsters would be coming for me."

Before anything else could be said the door was thrown open and Perseus was being wrapped in a tight hug by a pretty, wild haired woman. "Perseus, my baby," Sally said, tightening her hold on him before releasing him to take a better look at him. "You've grown so much since I last saw you. How are you doing? What are doing away from school and who are your friends?"

A blushing Perseus stepped back, ignoring Thalia's giggles at his embarrassment. "I kind of quit," he told her bluntly. She looked taken aback for a second before what he said set in and she started to look sadly at him. "Hey, there's no reason to be upset," he told her, pulling her into another hug where he buried his face in her hair, enjoying being held by his mother once again.

"And why, Perseus Jackson, shouldn't I be upset?" Sally asked, enjoying the hug as much as her son was.

"Because... I brought pizza!"


	4. Chapter 4 Hunger-Virgins-Goddesses

Update 10/27: Once again bow to the greatness that is Joe Lawyer master beta... that sounded wrong.

AN: So anyone who would like to beta for me, please PM me because this one has none. This one isn't as funny as the earlier chapters because the first half is dealing with his parents, though there are a few parts that had me chuckling as I wrote them. I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Sally with her arm still wrapped around Perseus, led the group of teenagers down the long hallway that was just inside the door of their condo. Its walls covered in pictures of her, Perseus, and a man that Thalia and Annabeth were guessing was his stepfather. Grover, having seen Paul when he and Sally had come to pick Perseus up at Christmas, already knew who the man was in the pictures.

"I'll go get us some plates so we can eat," Sally told the teens, as they exited the hall into a spacious living space. The back wall of the room was nothing but windows, adding to the bright open feeling the room gave. "I'll be back in a second and you can tell me then why it is you've 'quit' Yancy."

As his mother left the room, he took the food from the girls and made his way over to the coffee table. Laying the boxes down, Perseus claimed a spot on the couch as his own. Grabbing the remote control from the same coffee table he had placed the food on, he turned the television on, switching it to a channel that showed only music videos. Glancing back over at his friends, he saw that they had yet to move from where they had stopped when first entering the room. All three looked stiff and uncomfortable in the new environment.

"I know my mom didn't say take a seat, but that's only because it was implied," Perseus said, smiling at them. He was guessing the reason behind their inaction was a lack of being outside of the camp they had talked about. "She's not too big on getting carried away on social protocol. Just relax, grab a seat and enjoy being away from camp for a bit."

His words were enough to calm the three and bring smiles to their faces. Making their way over to where he was, Thalia and Annabeth took up spots on either side of Perseus, while Grover sat on the edge of one of the armchairs.

"Your mom seems nice," Grover commented as Thalia nodded, agreeing with him. The young satyr had set his crutches across his lap so that they wouldn't be in anyone's way.

"Yeah, she's great." Perseus agreed, beaming at the mention of his mother. "Paul is too... though I have no idea where he is at the moment."

"Perseus," Annabeth said, gaining said boy's attention along with the other two's. "Do you and your family spend a lot of time near the ocean? I only ask because in the hallway there were a few pictures of you at the beach and there are even more in here."

Perseus nodded. "Yeah, we do," he answered, not knowing why the amount of time they spent at the beach would be important. "My parents have homes on both the east and west coast that are all right on the beach. We live in them most of the time, even during the winter months. We had planned on going to one of the places close to here after the school year ended, but after what's happened today..."

Annabeth nodded as he spoke, as if he had just confirmed something she had expected. Perseus was going to ask what was up, but was stopped when he felt a tug of his vest.

"Who's this cute little fella?" Thalia asked, giggling as she held out a picture frame for the others to see. Perseus grimaced when he saw it was a picture of him holding a surf board that was few sizes bigger than he was at the time the picture was taken.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, he glared lightly at her before responding. "That's me two years ago." Perseus snorted at the surprised look on Thalia's face. "I wasn't joking when I said I was short at the start of the year."

"You look like your six or seven there," Annabeth pointed out, smiling softly at the picture of the small Perseus.

Perseus shook his head in amusement. "God," he sighed, "it was awful being ten and having kids younger than myself, towering over me."

"I remember when I first met you; I thought you were a grade schooler who had gotten lost." Grover said, as he let loose one of his strange laughs. Perseus suddenly realized what his friend was actually doing was bleating, causing him to chuckle along with the satyr. "Then come to find out, you're the one I had originally smelled. It was mind blowing to have such a strong scent coming from such a small boy."

Perseus tried glaring at his friend through his laughter with little success, when the sound of someone entering the room from the opposite direction his mother had left, reached the group of teens.

"Sally, honey," came Paul's voice from the doorway leading to the bedrooms, followed closely by the man himself, "do I smell... pi-zza?" Paul paused to look at each teen sitting around the mentioned food, just as Sally entered with a stack of plates.

"Paul, look Per-" Sally started, only to stop talking when Paul moved quickly across the space separating him and Perseus with a huge smile on his face. Pulling his son to his feet he wrapped him in a loving hug that Perseus gladly returned.

Breaking the hug, Paul held him out at arm's length. Perseus groaned internally when he saw the man let out a fake sob. "I'm so proud of you, Percy," he said, continuing his act, covering his mouth with his hand, blinking back tears that didn't exist. "Not only do you bring pizza home to your father, but you also show up with two pretty little girlfriends."

Perseus, along with Annabeth and Thalia turned neon at his words, much to Paul's amusement. "I have no more to teach you my son, you're a man now!"

From across the room, Grover's struggling to hold back his bleating laughter at the scene unfolding before him reached the three demigods, making the situation and their blushing even worse. Sally shook her head, torn between trying not to laugh at how her son and the two beautiful young ladies he had brought with him were reacting, and worrying over the crutched boy breaking a rib as he attempted to stifle his laughter.

"Damn it, Blowfish," Perseus scowled. A deep blush had made its way onto his cheeks as he punched the man in the arm. He refused to even look at either Thalia or Annabeth, not wanting to see how they had reacted. He may have only met them a few hours ago, but to see a look of rejection or disgust on their faces would be enough to kill any boy his age. "It's not like that between us, we're just friends."

Paul looked taken aback for only a second before he looked to each of the girls. Thalia and Annabeth, both of whom were a pretty shade of red, nodded that Perseus was telling the truth.

"Oh," Paul said, sounding a bit disappointed as he looked around the room. When his eyes landed Grover, Perseus couldn't help but get a bad feeling when he saw a mischievous look appear in his step father's eyes. "Oh, I get it," he said knowingly, patting Perseus on the shoulder. "Well, if he makes you happy Percy, then I am too."

It took Perseus and Grover far longer to figure out what Paul was implying than it had Thalia and Annabeth. The two female year-round campers had forgotten about their earlier embarrassment and were now losing themselves in laughter. Thalia was holding her sides as she shook silently, while Annabeth was covering her mouth and nose in an attempt to hide the cute snorts she was releasing. Both their faces now red for entirely different reasons than they had been seconds before.

"Wha-what?" Perseus gasped when he saw Paul smile cheekily at him. "You ass," Perseus yelled, playfully tackling the now laughing man, leading the father and son to an impromptu wrestling match. However, it was as Perseus attempted to pick up the fully grown man that the laughter that had broke out around the room slowed to a halt.

Perseus, while being tall and well built for his age, was still only a boy. He still had a few months to go before turning thirteen, and should have been unable to lift Paul, a man who was well built from all the time he spent outside with his wife and stepson being active.

Paul was aware of the awkward air in the room as Perseus set him down. The two adults knew his biological father was what had led him to being able to display such a feat of strength, but thought that the children were unaware of the forgotten and hidden truth of the world and those who ruled it. Whereas Perseus and his group didn't know if Paul was in the know when it came to who his birth father was.

Chuckling, Paul reached out and patted him lovingly on the head. "It seems coming to New York was the right thing to do, eh?" He said, referring to the changes Perseus' body had gone through. "Why don't we sit down and eat. While we're at it, you can tell us why you and three of your friends aren't in school."

The group quietly served themselves and ate with little conversation taking place between them, none of which pertained to why Perseus and his group had left Yancy. As Sally came back into the living room after having put the leftovers away, she sat next to Paul, who wrapped an arm around her pulling her close to him.

"We didn't get to talk about why you've run away from Yancy while we ate, but now we really should." Sally said, as she fixed the, unknown to her, demigods and satyr with a concerned look.

"Alright, I'll start," Perseus said, turning the attention solely upon himself. "The short and sweet version is, I killed my math teacher," he said bluntly.

Paul's eyes widened to double their normal size at the same time Sally looked to be entering the early stages of having a stroke. Annabeth buried her face in her hands before dropping both into her lap, shaking her head she moaned her new friend's name, amazed at the bluntness he had just shown. Grover let loose a strangled, indignant cry of shock.

Leaning just a bit further toward the boy next to her, Thalia pulled Perseus the rest of the way to her till her lips were next to his ear. "Too short and definitely not enough sweetness to that version, Perseus. You might want to add just a hint more details to your story and quickly, your mom looks to be on the verge of an aneurysm."

"Okay, killed might be too strong of a word," Perseus said, drawing questioning looks from his parents. "It'd be more accurate to say I turned her to dust, sending her back to the underworld." Sally and Paul had the same reaction, together they sent the three other teenagers looks before turning back to stare at Perseus.

"Yes, they know about the Greek gods, seeing as they're the ones to tell me about them." Perseus told his parents. "And I'm guessing you know all about what my biological father is from how you reacted to what I said." Paul nodded that he did in fact know, choosing to not say anything.

"Perseus," his mother said, looking as if she were becoming increasingly worried by the second. "What all has happened to you and your friends?"

And so he told her all that had happened to him and how the other three all came into play, leaving out only the strange hungry feeling he would get when he looked at Thalia and Annabeth. He knew the feeling wasn't normal and that was exactly why he chose not to speak of it. Grover was his best friend and he could see himself becoming a lot closer to the girls in the future. He didn't want to chance them thinking he was a freak, resulting in them not wanting anything to do with him.

"And this is all that happened?" Sally questioned him, staring him straight in the eyes. He couldn't shake the feeling she was hinting at something that she didn't want, or couldn't reveal to him. "You didn't get any strange, foreign feelings as all this happened did you? Something that you've never before felt, anything at all?"

Perseus knew at that moment she knew something was up with him and she was either trying to hide what she knew about the strange hunger he was experiencing, or she didn't know anything specific and was just grasping for straws. Feeling betrayed and not knowing why, he shook his head no, while trying to keep his cool, knowing how much an outburst from him would hurt her.

"Other than being freaked out by an old woman turning into a giant old bat, and my causing an earthquake, no," he answered, a bit of his normal sarcasm slipping into his voice. "Everything was peachy."

Sally let out a long tired sigh; she knew her son would be upset when he finally did find out about all that was going on. She was also aware that when he found out that she couldn't reveal who his father was, his already short temper would become worse, not to mention she couldn't say anything about Cane's gift to him until after he had awoken them.

"I know you probably want to know who your father is." Sally said to her son with regret deep in her voice. It was at that moment Perseus knew he wouldn't get any answers from her.

Unlike before, Perseus wanted to be angry with his mother over the lack of information she was supplying him with. The only thing that kept him from blowing up was how she and Paul had always treated him, never before had they kept anything from him unless it was absolutely necessary.

"But I'm sorry to say Perseus, and you can ask your friends if this isn't true, but the gods enjoy revealing who their children are." She said disapprovingly. "To take that chance away from your father would be to invite his wrath upon us. And trust me when I say, he is not someone you want to cross." Perseus need not ask if what his mother said was true, for as soon as she said this both Grover and Thalia were nodding that her words held truth to them.

"Perseus, if you truly wish to know who your father is, just think of your life up to this point," Annabeth told him, sounding a bit upset about something. Said boy stared at the girl with cloud grey eyes questioningly, he didn't know why, but he had the feeling his new friend was avoiding making eye contact with him. "I've figured out who your father is after only being here for a short while. Try and think about where it is you feel most comfortable... You may not notice how it makes you feel since you've grown up near one most of your life."

Perseus, Thalia, and Grover, all looked surprised at the news that she had figured out who his father was. "You're a very bright young lady," Sally commented, smiling at her. "She's right honey," she said, turning to her son. "Where are most of our homes located?"

It was like a light switch had gone off for not only him, but for Thalia and Grover as well. Annabeth's earlier question coming to the forefront of all their minds. Even in his earliest memories he could recall there always being some type of large body of water close to anywhere they lived, even when they stayed at hotels that had pools, there was always some natural form of water less than a couple miles away.

"Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound obvious," Perseus said pouting lightly, earning smiles from all around, the exception being Annabeth who was looking intently at her lap.

"Wow," Grover said, staring at his friend with respect shining in his eyes. "That makes what you did to Ms. Dobbs all the more impressive. I wish I had been there to see you turn her into a pin cushion!"

Thalia smirked deviously at the satyr. "Oh, so you would have wanted to be in the thick of battle with one of the Furies?" Grover's dark skin lightened at her words, as a stricken look crossed his face.

"Since you know what you are now, and about the dangers that are out there waiting for you, you'll have to go to Camp Half-Blood." Sally said, looking very upset that he would have to go. Paul looked to be as upset as his wife was about the news his son would be somewhere they couldn't visit him. His wife had told him all about how they, as mortals, couldn't enter the camp made for children of the gods. "You have a week to get there before monsters start actively hunting you down."

Perseus nodded. "We're to meet a representative for the camp tomorrow, whose going to pick us up and take us there." The other three knew he was lying so that they could go to the amusement park he had talked about earlier and somehow were able to keep straight faces and not draw suspicion on themselves.

"If that's so, then I think I'll need to get you girls something to sleep in tonight," Sally said, rising to her feet.

Perseus jumped up at the same time as this. "I'll come with you," he said, following her out of the room. As they walked down the hallway that Paul had come through, Sally wrapped a loving arm around Perseus' shoulder, pulling him close to her.

Still holding her son to her side, Sally pushed the door to his room open before leading him inside. "Are you angry with me?" She asked, as she turned him loose.

Seeing his mother looking as worried as she did made all of his earlier anger disappear at once. There was no way he could stay angry with her, she was his mother, and had always done all in her power to make him happy.

"No, of course not," he answered, as he wrapped her in a hug burying his head in her shoulder. "I won't lie though; I'm extremely pissed off at my supposed father."

"Perseus," she said, pulling back from him just enough to see his face. "Your father loves you very much-"

"Mom," he said, surprising her when he cut her off. "He may love me, but he has a funny way of showing he cares about people. He broke his vow to his brothers to be with you, just long enough to get you pregnant, then disappears not to be heard from again. And not only did he bring me into this world, damning me to be hated by his two brothers, even before I was a thought, he was putting you at risk. Had Zeus or Hades found out about you, then there would have been nothing to stop them from coming after you."

Sally smiled, as she pulled her beloved son into a tight hug. She could feel the love he held for her, and as a mother it was the best possible feeling in the world. "I could have ended the relationship between your father and I at anytime," she told him softly. "I'm just as guilty in all this as he is."

Perseus chose to not say anything, knowing that the shake of his head would be more than enough for him to convey how wrong she was. Pulling out of the hug, Sally ran a hand through the slightly long portion of his hair with a smile on her face.

"My baby boy has grown so handsome," she giggled, as his cheeks gained a light dusting of red. Recalling what Cain had said about him having multiple partners in the future, she couldn't help but wonder if one of the two girls in the living room, if not both, could possibly one day be her daughter-in-laws. "So, which of those lovely ladies in there do you like?"

"Mom," he moaned childishly, making her smile widen. "I expect that kind of thing from Paul, but not you."

"Sorry, sorry," Sally apologized lightly, holding up her hands in surrender. "I was just curious is all. They're both so pretty, I just figured..." She trailed off, looking at him knowingly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Perseus said, walking over to his dresser to grab some clothing he had outgrown for the girls to sleep in.

"I'm sure you don't," Sally replied, coming up to his side to help pick out things for the girls to wear.

Together the mother and son found a few pairs of sweatpants and basketball shorts for the girls to choose from, along with a few shirts that would be big on them. Sally having done what she came for turned to make her way back to the living room, but was stopped when Perseus reached out placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Uh, mom, if it isn't too much of a bother, would it be alright if we were to hang out in here for a bit?" He asked, suddenly feeling shy. He knew that it would be a while before he saw her again and wanted to spend some time alone with her before he and the others left. "You know... talk for a bit."

Smiling motherly at him, she nodded as she took up a spot on his bed. "I'd like that."

IDC:LT

Having had a long enjoyable talk, the mother and son returned to where Paul and the others were at in the living room. Before anything could be said or anyone could notice their arrival, Perseus caught sight of Grover's nervous twitching and the annoyed looks gracing the girls' features.

"It was hilarious seeing Sally's face when she found out that Perseus had been caught kissing a girl who was two years older than him." Paul said, laughing exuberantly.

Perseus flushed scarlet, letting out a small groan he rubbed his forehead with his free hand trying to compose himself. He had completely forgotten that his parents had been called when he had been caught out of his room, after hours, with a ninth grader. Not stopping to think that he might hurt his step father, he drew back the hand holding the clothes he had picked out for the girls and threw them as hard as he could into the back of the Paul's head, effectively stopping any further comments by his step father and announcing Sally's and his return.

"Blowfish, stop talking," he groaned out, walking over to the still laughing man. Perseus grabbed the clothes that were still wrapped around his father's head before continuing on over to the girls. "Here you go," he said, handing them each a few of the items Sally and he had picked out for them. "They're not much, but they're better than having to sleep in what you have on now."

Thalia moodily muttered a small 'thank you' at the same time a stone faced Annabeth nodded her thanks to him, neither of the girls looking at him as they did so. Together they rose to their feet and made their way over to Sally, asking her where they could go to change at. As his mother led the two girls to one of their guest rooms, Perseus sent an accusing glare at his still chuckling step-father.

"Why would you tell them that?" He growled out. "They'll probably think I'm going to try doing something perverted to them now!" The thought of either of the girls reacting to something he did that they deemed perverted, sent cold chills down the boy's spine.

"No they won't," Paul denied, waving his hand dismissively to his son's worries. Getting up, he headed for the kitchen with Perseus hot on his trial.

Just before he crossed the threshold leading to the kitchen, Perseus stopped and looked back over his shoulder at his friend. He was still sitting in the same armchair as he had since arriving, looking around as if he didn't know what to do. "Come on, Grover. You don't have to sit still like a puppy." He laughed at his sheepish looking friend. "You're more than welcome to move around without being told to. This is my home and as far as I'm concerned yours as well, and I'm sure my mom and dad feel exactly the same way."

"Thanks Perseus," Grover said, making his way over to his friend and clapping him on the back. "That really means a lot."

With Grover on his trail they made their way to the kitchen to see Paul's backside as he bent over searching the fridge. Letting out a shrill whistle, Perseus grabbed a stool at the island counter in the middle of the room.

"You see that G-man," Perseus said, pointing at the bentover man. "That right there is pure sex appeal!"

Grover stifled a snicker at the same time Paul popped up, holding the left over pizza with a fake glare plastered on his face. "Fine then, _Percy_. I won't tell you why I told the girls about your late night rendezvous with that girl you were caught kissing." Laying the food before the two boys, Paul sent his son a smug look that said '_yeah, I've got cha!_'.

"Fine," Perseus sighed, grabbing what seemed like his hundredth slice of pizza that evening. "Tell me, oh great and powerful one, why it is you were trying to ruin my reputation?"

"I did it to see if they liked you," Paul answered simply. However, unbeknownst to his son, Paul's motive behind wanting to find out if the girls liked Perseus was along the same line as Sally's. Both wanted to know if the girls could possibly be his future mates.

Perseus stared at him incredulously, not believing what he had just heard. "You do know that I just met them today, right?" He asked, not bothering to keep his condescending tone hidden.

"And that matters why?" Paul shot back. "Every person you meet in this world will judge you from the first second they see you. So why shouldn't someone be able to like a person they've just met?"

Perseus was going to reply, but found no comeback for his father's words. Looking over at Grover, who was eating on a piece of cardboard, the satyr shrugged his shoulders. "He's got a point, Perseus. I remember the first time I met this blueberry bush named, Afina." Grover's eyes had glazed over at the mention of the fruit bearing bush he was crushing on. "I knew from that moment on I'd never again look at another!"

Perseus made no effort to hide his snickering, while Paul just looked at the strangely hairy teen in bewilderment. "I'm - happy for you," Paul said awkwardly. "Just a bit of advice, don't cheat on Afina with a rose bush. You'd get yourself into all kinds of trouble... and thorns." Paul grimaced, sending Perseus over the edge of just snickering and into a full blown laughing fit.

Grover having caught on to what the man was telling him turned red. "I didn't mean the actual bush! The girl I'm talking about is a dryad, you know, a wood nymph."

"Oh," Paul said, over Perseus' laughter. "I thought you were into some weird type of voyeurism," Paul muttered under his breath looking relieved. He'd support Perseus in almost anything, but the thought of his son running around with a tree humper was just too much for him to be okay with. "My misunderstanding aside, you'll be happy to know, that the girls like you at least enough to get jealous about you kissing a girl before you ever met them. Which could mean that they like you a lot or could be a sign of a very possessive female."

Hearing this sobered Perseus right up, though he still looked doubtful as to whether or not Paul's words held any truth to them. "Thalia might have been upset by hearing about that, but I'm not so sure about Annabeth. She seemed a bit miffed about something, before I left to go get the clothes for them to sleep in."

Grover cleared his throat gaining the other two's attention. "Annabeth holds her mother in a very high regard," he said, speaking more to Perseus than he was to Paul. "It's well known that Athena and Poseidon don't get along very well. This may be the cause behind her behavior. It was obvious she liked you at the very least as a person before. But now that it's out that you're the son of her mother's rival, she could feel that she has betrayed Athena, the only parent she feels cares for her."

"That's stupid," Perseus blurted, looking to Paul for support. "She can't really think that she's wronged her mom by being friends with me. I mean it's Annabeth, I've known her for only a few hours now, and even I can tell you she's too smart to believe something that dumb!"

"Actually, she's not too far off," Grover told him sadly. "While it's true Athena is one of the more level headed goddesses, she can still hold a grudge as well as any of the other gods and goddesses. And while she may not be mad at Annabeth for being friends with you, she more than likely wouldn't approve of it either."

Throwing his hands up as he let out a long sigh, he slid off his stool and made his way for the doorway. "I'm going to go take a shower," he called over his shoulder.

When the green eyed boy had disappeared from their view, Paul sent Grover a knowing smile. "For him to have only met those girls a few hours ago, it seems like he's awfully aware of them and how they're feeling." Grover didn't reply, just smiled and nodded as he tore into another piece of cardboard.

IDC:LT

He had always felt comfortable in water, like anytime that he was in contact with the liquid he was truly safe and at home. But now that he was aware of the connection he shared with it, it was as if the bond he had with it was on a whole new level.

His body, which had started to hurt and ache again for the first time since eating and drinking the Ambrosia and Nectar Annabeth had offered him, felt better than ever after coming into contact with the steaming hot spray delivered to him by his shower head. He was happy that he was using his private bathroom, knowing that had he been where people could hear him, they would have gotten the wrong idea hearing the sounds of his pleasure filled moans.

He didn't know how long he had let the scalding water pour over his body; he did however know that had the water not started to chill he would have stayed longer. It was as he was getting out of the shower that he realized that he should have been burned by how high he had the hot water and frozen after being hit by the icy stream not long after, but here he was, standing naked in the middle of his bathroom as comfortable as could possibly be.

Assuming his sudden ability to handle varying temperatures of water was a gift from his 'father', he wrapped a towel around his waist and entered his bedroom. He would later be thankful for doing so, because as soon as he entered his room he was greeted by the sight of his three friends hanging out in his room.

All three looked fresh from the shower, Thalia and Annabeth both sporting the clothes he had brought them earlier. Grover was sitting way too close to the front of the TV, enraptured by a nature documentary on the life of wild goats in Asia. Thalia was propped up against the headboard of his bed listening to his IPod. He assumed she liked what she was hearing from the small nods she was giving and the smile gracing her features. On the other side of the room was Annabeth, she stood before his bookcase and appeared to be a few chapters deep in the book she was holding. Perseus chuckled drawing the attention of the others when he realized the gray eyed girl was reading one of his favorites.

"Well, this is awkward," he said, making sure he had a firm hold on his towel.

"Perseus, why are you naked?" Grover asked, turning back to the television. Having lived in the boy's dorm at Yancy, he was used to seeing other guys running around half dressed. Annabeth, on the other hand, was nowhere near used to such things, and had turned back to the book she had been reading as soon as she saw that he was shirtless, a deep red staining the tanned skin of her cheeks. Thalia, on the other hand, didn't look away. With a blush that rivaled Annabeth's, she drank in the sight before her. Perseus didn't know whether to be pleased he held an appeal to the pretty girl, or if he should feel like a piece of meat from the way her eyes traveled over his exposed body.

"I just got out of the shower," he answered, at the same time it dawned on him that they may have heard him moaning like a ghost earlier. Looking at the three, he didn't see any signs that he had made a fool of himself to them, causing him to relax a small bit. "I guess I was in there longer than I thought if the three of you were able to get washed up in the same amount of time it took me." Walking toward his bed where he had left his bag, he could feel Thalia's eyes on him, causing goose bumps to rise on his arms. "So why is everyone camped out in here?" he asked, trying to distract himself from the staring girl.

"Go put some clothes on," Annabeth snapped, as she stared pointedly at the book she had been reading. "Then we'll tell you why we're all in here!"

"Awww, what's wrong Wisegirl?" Perseus asked mischievously. He was hoping teasing the girl would get her over her aversion of being his friend.

Reaching to her hip, she drew her knife from its holster, holding it where he could catch a glimpse of its shining bronze blade. "Either you go put some clothes on, or I'll show you just how accurate I am at knife throwing."

He would have liked to think she had been joking, but as he rushed into the bathroom with his bag over his shoulder, he could feel her waiting for him to make another smart remark.

"Alright, I'm coming out," Perseus called into his room after having clothed himself. "I'm covered, so don't do anything _I'll_ end up regretting."

Closing the book she was reading, Annabeth made her way over to Thalia, sitting next to her on his bed at the same time Grover turned around to face the room. "The reason we're all in here is simple." She stated, meeting his eyes for the first time since she had guessed who his father was. The look in her storm-like eyes was distant and hard, unwilling to show any type of familiarity to the boy she had previously thought of as a nice guy. It may have been wishful thinking on Perseus' part, but he could have sworn that for a second, deep down in those cloud colored eyes of hers was a small flash of regret. "If on the small chance any monsters were to track us down here, they would ignore all others to get to this room that is filled with the smell of strong demigods."

"By ignoring others, you mean to say my parents," Perseus stated, sounding grateful. "You're doing this to protect them. It means a lot to know that you guys are looking out for them. Thank you." Thalia and Grover both smiled at him, while even Annabeth lessened her stern look a fraction as she nodded to him.

"So," Thalia said, jumping off the bed to steal the remote from Grover who let out a cry of protest, but wasn't able to steal it back from the dark haired girl. "What scary movie are we going to watch first?" She asked impishly.

IDC:LT

"Morning mom, dad." Perseus greeted as he entered the kitchen the next morning.

He and the others had spent half the night watching movies with him and the girls trying to scare Grover. It had been early morning before any of them had drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, Perseus was surprised to find all of them lying close together on his bed, not because of the size of his bed, but because he figured one of the two girls would have kicked them off before falling asleep the night before.

"Good morning, honey." Sally greeted back. Leaving the stove where she was making breakfast, she reached him, wrapping him in a tight embrace, just as he was taking the orange juice out of the fridge. "Did you and your friends have fun last night?"

"Yeah, we watched those shaky camera, ghost movies." Perseus said, his smile making its way into his voice. "Grover was close to having a nervous breakdown the entire time."

"Sounds fun," Paul commented from behind his laptop. "Oh, by the way Perseus, I thought you might like to know, Yancy called this morning. Apparently, our son ran off in the middle of the night. You wouldn't happen to know where we could find him, would you?" Paul asked, grinning like a mad man.

"No idea," Perseus answered seriously. "I hope he's alright! A good looking kid like that is bound to be in danger if he was to go wandering around on his own."

"Nah, don't worry about that," Paul said jokingly. "He's a bit of a pest! Any kidnapper that gets a hold of him would have him returned within the hour."

"Okay you two, enough of that," Sally chided though her voice was filled with mirth. "Perseus, go wake your friends up, the foods ready."

"All right," he said, hopping to his feet. He was just about to leave when the conversation about why the girls and Grover had stayed in his room the night before came to mind. "Um, mom, dad!"

"Yes sweety, what is it?"

"With not only myself, but Thalia and Annabeth being here, there's bound to be a strong scent here. I think it would be best that after we leave today that you guys do the same. That way there's no chance of either of you getting hurt because of us."

"Perseus, we'll be fine," Sally stated firmly. "You just worry about getting to that camp safely."

"No," he denied defiantly, turning to face her straight on. "It's a very real danger being around my smell." Even with the conversation being as serious as it was he still felt foolish saying what he just had. "Do you honestly think I'll be able to focus on anything if I don't know if the two of you are alright?"

Paul looked his son in the eyes seeing the determination there. Nodding, he stood up and placed a hand on Sally's arm, just as she was about to respond to Perseus' words. "If it means that much to you Perseus, we'll go. I promise!" He vowed meeting the young man's gaze.

"Thank you." He said gratefully, before turning and leaving the kitchen to make his way to his bedroom, where his friends were still at.

Gently pushing open his bedroom door, he saw that the others were unsurprisingly still asleep. Thalia and Annabeth had both slept under the covers while he and Grover had laid at the foot of the bed.

Chuckling softly at the sight of a sleeping Grover chewing lightly on the blanket he had pulled to his chest during the night, Perseus made his way over to the bed, intent on waking Thalia up first since she was closes to him. It was as he reached out to shake her shoulder that she rolled over exposing the creamy skin of her neck to him.

It was as if a jolt had shot through him when he saw the curve of her slender neck. Repeatedly the pulsing hit him again and again as he watched her sleep. The feeling of acceptance and hunger was back full force, but along with those feelings of need and want was a sense that she had something to offer him. That if he were to give into his wants - no his needs, then there would be a reward to be gained from her. Not only that, but that he could claim her as his own.

It took his now sluggish, clouded mind, a few seconds to comprehend that the pulsing was happening in time with the slight twitching he could see in her jugular each time her heart beat.

She was just so beautiful and perfect. And her smell... Perseus closed his eyes to take in a deep lung full of her scent. She smelled of fresh rain and power. It was mouth watering to the black haired son of the sea.

As he opened his eyes, he found himself leaning in towards her neck. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that when he got close enough he would taste her, and it sent a thrill of pleasure through him to know it.

"Perseus, wh-what are you doing?"

He jumped when he heard Thalia say his name. Tearing his eyes away from her neck which had started to turn a faint red, he saw that she had awoken while he had been captivated by her pulse and beauty. The cause behind the red that had slowly started to stain her neck was a blush that became more intense the further into her face he got. Her eyes held a startled, yet embarrassed, look to them.

"I," he started, but stopped when he realized that he didn't know what to tell her. "I don't know," he whispered breathlessly, stepping back from the bed and her.

An awkward silence fell between them where Perseus alternated between looking her in the eyes and staring at her still exposed neck. The surprise she had felt when waking up had made her heart beat faster than before, resulting in the jolts hitting at a much faster rate. At the same time he was he was feeling her heartbeat, Thalia gazed up at him with an unreadable expression.

Not knowing what else to do, he turned to leave. It was as he reached the door he stopped, looking over his shoulder he said, "Wake up Grover and Annabeth, breakfast is ready."

"Perseus," she called, stopping him as he had once again started to leave.

"Yes?" He asked, without turning to look at her, afraid of what he might see in her eyes.

"If you had stolen my first kiss like that, I would have kicked your ass!" She informed him in a tone that he couldn't get a read on.

It took him a few seconds to understand what her words meant to him. He was so relieved that she had misunderstood his actions that a chuckle escaped him that quickly turned into full blown laughter. Shaking his head he left the room without another word.

IDC:LT

The group of teenagers had breakfast and were on their way within hours of waking up. Grover and the girls had given Perseus and his family the time and privacy to say their goodbyes to one another. It had been rough on him and his parents, leaving each other as they had. Unlike when he had gone off to school at the start of the year, now they were separating and didn't know when they would see each other again.

The only good thing about leaving was knowing his parents would be out of harm's way. Paul and Sally left at the same time as Perseus and his friends had, just as his father had promised they would. It had taken some fast thinking and a quick tongue on Perseus' part to keep his parents from making them take a ride from them to the place where they were to meet the 'camp representative'.

It took the group almost two hours to reach the amusement park, but they all agreed it was worth the long ride. As they piled out of the cab one by one onto the curbside, they stood in a loose group and stared up at the numerous rides they could see from their place just outside the parking lot. With smiles on their faces they knew that there were tons more rides inside that awaited them.

"Grover," Perseus said, meeting his friends worried eyes. "You better tighten those shoes of yours up, because your furry ass is going on all the rides the rest of us get on!"

"Perseus," Grover whined weakly, as he bent down to do as his friend had told him to.

"Since Grover has his feet on let's go," Thalia yelled. Grabbing Annabeth by the hand, the two girls took off for the entrance, with Grover following close behind.

Perseus was about to take off and follow them when a group of three people down the sidewalk a ways caught his eye. Each one was wearing a black hoodie that obscured their face, making it impossible for him to tell where they were looking, but from the angle of their bodies he was guessing they were staring at him.

His demigod nature getting the better of him, he was about to call out to the group of what looked to be teens, when Annabeth called out to him instead. "Splish Splash," she yelled from about a quarter's way across the black top of the parking lot. "You're the one funding this trip, we need you."

Perseus could feel the annoyance coming off the girl in waves. The cause of her ire was that she was being forced to rely on him, the son of Poseidon for something. Looking back to where the group of hoodie wearers had been seconds before, he found the spot empty of anyone and anything. Shrugging his shoulders dismissively, he took off after the others as fast as he could, forgetting about the three dressed in black all together.

IDC:LT

"Really, pizza again?" Annabeth asked Thalia, who had gotten the same food they had eaten the night before from the concession stand where they had gotten something to eat.

The blond's amusement was clear in her voice. "I thought you'd be burnt out with it by now. After all, you did have it for dinner last night and again this morning with your breakfast." Thalia being very mature about the whole thing, responded by sticking her tongue out.

The group had arrived at the park at around ten, and it was now close to five o'clock. They had started toward the front of the park, going to each and every ride they could (skipping them only when there was too long of a line), and had slowly made their way toward the back of the park, or the opposite entrance to the one they had entered through.

The group of four had all enjoyed themselves immensely, even going so far as to forget about the weirdness that had arisen between Perseus and the girls. At first the air between Perseus and Thalia had been awkward, which was understandable when waking up to the situation that the girl had. But as time progressed things went back to the way they had the day before, with the two joking and playing around with one another. And while Annabeth wasn't acting the same toward him as she had the day before, she was willing to chat and laugh along with him and had even thanked him for paying for everything and for giving them a chance to get out for a while.

"You might want to slow down on those enchiladas, Grover." Perseus warned his friend who was eating more like a chained junkyard dog than he was satyr. "You were looking a bit queasy on some of those rides earlier, and we've yet to hit the biggest roller coaster in the park."

"I'll be fine," Grover reassured him in between bites. "How lucky are we? Cheese enchiladas at a concession stand." He moaned as he tore into his fifth enchilada, showing no sign of slowing down.

Perseus shook his head at his friend's antics as he picked up his burger. He was just about to bite into his own meal when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a hint of black, that brought the three he had seen earlier in the day back to the forefront of his mind. Looking around he found the same three as before standing a ways off watching their group, or if his gut feeling was right, were watching him.

Wanting to find out if his feeling about them was correct, he rose to his feet and started to walk off in the direction of the bathrooms.

"Perseus," Annabeth called out to him, "where are you going?"

"I'm going to the restroom. I'll be back in a minute." He said before turning and jogging off.

As the bathrooms came into sight he glanced over his shoulder to see that the black wearing three were following him as he had expected them to do. Picking up his pace, he decided to circle around and get the girls' help dealing with the threesome. He knew that once he gained control over his powers he'd be more than capable of protecting himself, but as it was now he hadn't had the chance to test out his powers at all, add to this that there were three people chasing him and the chances of him stopping whatever it was they wanted to do lowered drastically.

It seemed his speeding up had led the group to believing he was trying to flee, making them speed up to inhuman speeds. Perseus had just seconds to see that the area he had run to was under reconstruction and was devoid of people, before having something that felt like a sledge hammer crash into his side, sending him flying into the entrance of one the rides that was being worked on called, 'The Phoenix'.

Slamming through the metal sign knocked the breath out of him just seconds before the force of him hitting the earth jarred him so violently that he bit straight through his tongue. Coming to a rolling stop, his attackers walked lazily toward his downed form, laughing at him as he pushed himself to his knees, spitting out blood.

"He's quite handsome," said the one located furthest to the right revealing her to be female. Now that they were up close, Perseus could tell that the other two were males from the width of their shoulders and broadness of their chest.

"Awww, poor pretty boy go boom," mocked the male furthest to the left in a thick Spanish accent. "Don't worry man, go ahead and go to sleep. It'll make things a lot easier on you if you're not awake for what we're going to do to you. And don't worry, those two pretty chicas you were traveling with, we'll take good care of them."

"Enough!" Snapped the middle figure. At once the two to his sides shut up, taking a step back in a sign of obedience. "We're here to kill 'his' heir! Not for you to taunt him like a child, and certainly not to fawn over!" Reaching up the figure pulled his hood down, shocking Perseus with what was underneath. All of the teen's features were lost on the son of Poseidon with the exception of his completely red eyes and his rotten milk colored skin that showed sickly looking blood veins popping up all over his body.

Perseus retched at the sight. "Dude," he said, forgetting the pain his being thrown was causing him. "You need to..." he trailed off, shaking his head not sure what to say. "I don't know what you should do, but you need do to something, and do it fast. Because... damn, you're ugly."

The male who had removed his hood growled at the insult, exposing long thin canines that were reminiscent of a snake's fang. At the same time, his two companions hissed, both of them taking a threatening step forward.

"Vampires!" Perseus gasped. He didn't recall anything about vampires in all his time studying Greek mythology, but here one was, ready to pierce him with its fangs.

With a jolt that wasn't all that different from the one he had experienced that morning, he realized that he was somehow connected to the vampires. After all, earlier that morning he had been seconds away from biting Thalia. And since he had met the girls he had felt a multitude of strange things toward them. But if he was one of these 'vampires', why was it he didn't look as beat up as Ugly did? Was the leader alone in his looks, or was that why the others had yet to lower their own hoods?

"I'm going to enjoy draining the life out of you!" The lead vampire growled, making his fangs more prominent. He dashed forward at a speed that Perseus knew he could never keep up with, pulling a short silver sword out of his hoodie as he came. His followers copied their leader's action by quickly drawing their own swords before coming at Perseus.

Catching sight of a steel pipe lying a few feet away from him, Perseus dived for it, knowing it would likely do little to nothing against the swords. It was as he was coming out of his roll, the pipe firmly in his hand, that he realized that something was wrong. All three of the vampires had seemingly frozen mid stride. Their leader bent so far forward that he should have fallen on to his face.

Not sure what was going on around him, he kept himself tense and ready to react for any sign of movement from his three attackers.

"Calm yourself young Perseus." Spoke a warm voice from behind him. Whipping around with his pipe held high, he found himself blinking owlishly. Instead of there being some big bad monster behind him ready to eat his flesh, he was facing the most beautiful child he had ever seen.

The small girl looked to be eight or nine years of age and had hair that hung well past the base of her spine, it's color an amazing shade of red that made her finely tanned skin look as if it shined. It was her eyes however, that struck Perseus the strongest. Instead of having orbs like a normal human would, she had what appeared to be pits of fire burning in their place, each one giving off small trails of wispy smoke. In all she had a breathtakingly beauty to her that had Perseus wondering how far that beauty would go once she aged into a woman.

"Who are you?" Perseus asked, as he lowered his makeshift weapon. He felt like a fool for having acted like he was going to bash the small girl with the pipe he held, its length almost as long as she was tall.

"My name is Hestia." She announced with a kind smile, filling Perseus with a warmth that was similar to that which he received whenever he was hugged by his mother, or when he and Paul would play around with each other. "Goddess of the hearth, home, the right ordering of domesticity, and family. But at the moment, I am but a simple messenger for a friend who has faded from this world, and a bringer of gifts."

"How did you freeze them?" Perseus blurted out, not knowing how to reply to the girl who claimed to be a goddess. Though from the way her eyes were pits of fire and her otherworldly beauty he was inclined to believe her.

"It was a gift from the same friend I mentioned before." She answered kindly, knowing that most demigods were a bit slow the first time they met a god or goddess. "It's too bad that I'm only able to use it this one time," she commented lightly, "it would be a very handy trick to possess, wouldn't you agree?" He nodded, glancing over at the still unmoving Vampires.

"Freezing your opponent in mid-battle could definitely come in handy." Looking back to the goddess he saw that she looked to be perfectly content on waiting for him to gather himself. It was then that it hit him that he had a goddess waiting on him.

He fell painfully to one knee, bowing his head to her, one of his favorite goddesses that he had learned about while in Mr. Brunner's class. She had given up her spot as one of the twelve major gods and goddesses to avoid war breaking out.

"It's an honor to meet you, Lady Hestia." He felt a hand that radiated warmth, grasp him lightly by the chin and lift his head to where his green eyes locked with her pools of fire, her current form was so short in stature that he needed only lift his head a fraction to do so.

"There is no need to bow to me Perseus." She chided lightly. His eyes searched her face hungrily drinking in her features from up close. He found himself wishing he could see what her older form was like.

"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Lady Hestia." His cheeks had warmed, letting him know that a blush had made its way to his face. "But if even a fraction of what I have learned about you and your actions is true, then you above all others, even those of the major twelve, merit not only mine, but all others' respect."

She beamed at him causing his heart rate to speed up. Leaning forward she placed her small pink lips to his forehead in a kiss that only increased the warmth that had spread through his body.

"He was right," she commented, "you do know how to charm a lady." Perseus tried to form words, but found himself sputtering like a fool. Reaching out she placed her small hand to his mouth ceasing any more of his attempts to speak.

"I cannot tell you who sent what I am about to gift you, but in time you will know who he was." Taking a step away from the still kneeling Perseus, Hestia's hands burst into wild flames that slowly grew in size until they suddenly died out. Where the fire had been only seconds before were now two blades. In her right was a sword made out of the same celestial bronze that made up Thalia's spear and Annabeth's knife. In her left, however, was a sword of the same length and form, but where the first was bronze this one was a black that seemed to suck in the light around it.

"This is Anaklusmos, or in English, Riptide," she told him, as she held out the bronze sword for him to take. "It is not from the same person I spoke of before, but from your father. He gave it to Chiron to gift to you. Since I was coming to deliver this one," she held up the black sword, "I brought this one it as well."

Perseus took Riptide from her and instantly felt a connection to the blade. Its weight and length both feeling right to him, as if it was an extension of his arm.

"This however," she said looking to the black blade. "Is from the man I spoke of. He sent this along with a message." Taking the black blade when she offered it, Perseus felt just as strong a connection to it as he had the first blade. Rising to his feet he gave them both test swings that led to him beaming as a rhythm made its way into his movements.

"They look good in your grasp," she complimented him, bringing the blush that had only just faded back to his cheeks with a vengeance. "The second blade is made from what is called, Stygian Iron. It, unlike other magical metals, has the capability to harm not only monsters, gods, titans, and those who share their blood, but mortals as well."

"What is its name?" He didn't look at her as he asked this; it unnerved him to be as drawn to her as he was when she was in such a young form, even if she was far, far older than he.

"It has none. It is for you to decide what its name shall be." He nodded absentmindedly. "When you wish to store them you need only think of doing so."

Doing as she said, he pictured them both in their own sheath, at once they both shrunk until Riptide was a ballpoint pen and the black unnamed blade had turned into a pebble. Perseus looked at the two items that had previously been swords with a hint of amusement.

Seeing his look she giggled softly. Taking the pen and pebble from him, her hands once again burst into flames. When she started to reach up and out to him with her hands still covered in their flames, Perseus made no attempt to pull away, impressing the goddess as she grasped the lobes of his ears where they had been pierced. He experienced a slight burn as a sizzling sound filled his hearing for less than a second before the feeling and sound faded away.

"There," she said in her soft, warm voice. "A way to seal your weapons that is more to your style." Before he could ask what she had done, she summoned a ring of fire that he could see his reflection in. Where before he had brown plugs in his right and left ear were now a black and bronze one respectively.

Thinking that he wanted his blades in his hands, the two swords appeared in his hands at the same time the plugs turned back to their original brown. "Nice!" He beamed at the small girl.

"Now then, for his message." Perseus' smile dropped, unconsciously straightening his back. "Soon you will know why you have been filled with a hunger and want for certain others. Until that time comes to pass, know that you are nothing to be feared, unless you wish to be so."

Perseus had gone stock still at the mention of his hunger for others. Someone who had faded from this world had known that he would crave to bite people. Why would they send him a weapon, and better yet why if they were sending him a message didn't they put anything in it that made damn sense and that would help him not want to eat every pretty girl he saw, including the goddess that sat before him.

He had been unaware of the feeling at first, but now that his mind had drifted to what had happened earlier that morning, he could feel his hunger and want rising. But unlike it had been with Thalia and Annabeth where it had been in tune with their heartbeat, here with Hestia it was one constant buzzing that vibrated him to his very core.

"I expect great things from you, _my_ Perseus," she said, reaching up on tiptoes to run a hand through his hair. "You will save many lives, change just as many as you save, and bring great changes about." She looked to the floor and was quiet for a few second before she looked into his eyes. The pits of fire that made up her eyes were filled with an intense new burn to them, which they had not held before. "You may even bring about changes to things which have been in place since they were sworn to millennia ago."

Perseus wondered what she had meant by the last part, but all brain function stopped as his earlier wish was granted. Slowly before his eyes the young girl grew to the same age as him. She was even more beautiful than he had thought she would be. Her hair now brushed the ground, the portions of her skin that he could see, had what looked to be shimmers of gold and red flashing over it, and her eyes were still the same perfect flames. The darker look still present in them.

The now older looking Hestia smiled prettily at him as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, catching the corner of his lips with her own. An intense warmth stronger than any he had felt so far burst through his body that he instantly recognized as lust. He so wanted to wrap his arms around her, to pull her close to him so that he could feel the heat of her body against his own. But it was not to be. She was a goddess and a virgin one no less. He knew that it would more than likely get him killed to indulge in this new craving that was consuming him.

When she pulled away he was standing behind the lead vampire and in between his two lackeys.

"Good bye... My Perseus." He could feel her sadness at having to say good bye, and found his own emotions mirroring hers. "Know that I can't interfere in the actions of the demigods, but anytime you need someone to talk to, all you need do is start a fire!" With those parting words she disappeared in a blinding flash.

Around him things slowly started to move once again. Trying and failing to shake off the longing he had held for the goddess, Perseus focused on the three who had planned to kill him for being someone's 'heir'. Had they meant Poseidon, or were they perhaps talking about the man who had sent him the sword and had known about his sudden thirst for others?

"It doesn't matter at the moment," Perseus growled to himself. He recalled what the one with the Spanish accent had said about Annabeth and Thalia, sending his anger skyrocketing.

As the world around him came fully back into motion, the ground under him started shaking violently. He knew that the tremors he was sending out could be felt all around the amusement park and hoped to the very depths of his soul that he wouldn't cause one of the rides to collapse and kill the innocent mortals.

"Where did he go?" Screamed the lead blood sucker, while looking around trying to find him.

"Forget him, what the hell is happening?" Yelled the Spanish accented one from Perseus' side.

"You fucked up coming for me." Perseus whispered, the earthquake happening around him not bothering him in the slightest. The two to his side turned to face him at the same time the one with his back to him spun around wildly. "You can go to hell now!"

Bringing his two swords up in a cross in front of his chest, Perseus suddenly and viscously lashed out, taking the heads off the two still hooded figures. The male instantly turned to dust that quickly faded away, but the female's body looked as if it had been absorbed by the blade.

Paying the strange occurrence little mind Perseus looked into the startled red eyes of the only remaining vampire. The hideous creature bared its fangs once again before charging. Its speed far outmatched Perseus', but that was where his advantage ended. Perseus it seemed was a natural at swordsmanship, add to this that he held two swords and that the violent shaking of the world around them wasn't affecting him in the least, and it left the son of Poseidon with the upper hand.

Just as the vampire blocked a heavy overhead blow from the unnamed blade, a scream of Perseus' name distracted the blood sucker just long enough for him to finish the fight. Swinging the bronze sword upward its shining blade caught the creature in the chin, splitting it and sending the now screaming vampire stumbling backwards. Not wasting time to see who had called out to him, Perseus dashed forward sinking the blade into his attacker's stomach. Just as it had done to the girl, the black blade sucked the now dead monster into its blade.

"Perseus," screamed Grover, as he and the girls stumbled over the still rumbling ground. "Calm down!"

Seeing that his friends were in danger, he took long deep breaths, calming the storm that was his anger. Slowly the ground's shaking slowed to a stop, leaving only the yells of frightened people in its wake. Looking around Perseus saw that other than finishing destroying the sign he had been thrown through, that the quake hadn't cause any real damage.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, as his weapons faded back into his piercings. "Did any of you know that vampires are real?" All three of his companions gasped at once, it was Annabeth's nod that informed him that they did in fact know that the creatures existed.

"I didn't smell any monsters until after I had finished one of my enchiladas," Grover admitted looking humiliated and remorseful. "I'm sorry, Perseus. If I hadn't bee-" The satyr stopped talking as a stricken look crossed his face. Looking around Grover took to sniffing the air with a bewildered look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Thalia had taken out her spear and looked ready to fight. "Are there more of them around?"

"No..." He replied, walking around in a circle, sniffing the air as he went. "It's faint, and I do mean faint, but I can smell a goddess!"

"Grover, as your best friend, I'm going to forget how creepy the last sentence out of your mouth was." Perseus commented, making the satyr blush. "But yeah, you should smell a goddess; there was one here not just a few minutes ago." It didn't go unnoticed how his eyes darkened at the mention of the goddess, causing both Annabeth and Thalia to glance at each other with unreadable expressions.

"That's strange," Grover said, paying the others no mind as he took long deep breaths trying to locate said goddess' scent. "Normally when a god or goddess appears they leave an overwhelmingly strong scent behind. But whoever it was that came to visit you, her smell is all but gone, except for-" With his nose leading him, he walked straight into Perseus.

"Grover, I love you like a brother, but that's where it ends." He said, catching the satyr keeping him from falling. "Try and remember Afina, next time you want to throw yourself at me."

"Perseus?" Grover said slowly, as he took a step back from his friend. "Why is the goddess' scent all over you?" Perseus fought the red that tried to make its way to his cheeks as he recalled the older version of Hestia kissing him.

When he said nothing Annabeth cut in. "Who was it that came to see you?" She asked sounding worried. Perseus guessed she was afraid her mother had found out about them traveling together.

"Lady Hestia." At his answer both Annabeth and Thalia looked relieved, though he was guessing that the daughter of Zeus's reason was different than the first.

"Why was she here?" Grover questioned.

"She brought me the swords that you three saw me with." He didn't think it would be a good idea to tell them that he had received a gift from an unknown, so he quickly came up with a half truth. "A gift from my father." Grover stared at his friend suspiciously, having not bought what his friend had said like the girls had.

Grover like all satyrs could read the emotions of those he was close to personally. So when Perseus answered there was a slight shift in his emotions that the whiskered chinned boy associated with lying. Not knowing why he was trying to hide something, but trusting he had his reasons, Grover let it drop.

"We need to get out of here." Annabeth told them as she made to leave. "If you have the smell of a goddess on you then we need to get somewhere that we can defend ourselves, without any of the mortals getting caught in the cross fire." Without saying another word the others took off after her.

Perseus was happy to see that despite having not been trained all his life that he could still keep up with the other three. They raced through the crowds of panicking people, all of whom were scared after the sudden earthquake. He felt bad for having lost control of his powers when he saw a small set of twins, a boy and girl crying as their mother and father carried them toward the same exit he and his friends were heading for.

After having pushed their way out of the crowded exits, they found themselves in the opposite parking lot in which they had entered. It was Thalia who first spotted the playground a few blocks down that was surrounded by woods.

"Look over there," she cried out. Taking off with the others giving chase. "It's likely there will be monsters in the woods, but at least there we can come up with what we want to do next, and it's somewhere that you can throw a temper tantrum." She shot at Perseus, giving him an evil grin.

"Keep it up, Barbie," he said jokingly. "If you aren't careful, you just might wake up in pigtails and a tutu."

When they reached the playground the area was devoid of children and adults alike. Perseus and the others headed for a swing set and were each about to claim a swing as their own when out of the woods burst a girl holding a drawn bow that was pointed at them. Her hair was long and silky black. Her skin the color of copper and her eyes were a coal black. Simply put, she looked like a Persian warrior princess. She was closely followed by a group of girls, all of whom also held them at bow point.

"Really?" Perseus questioned, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm going to be taken out like Bambi's dad?" He said, making a non worried looking Thalia laugh.

"Not that it's important at the moment," Annabeth commented without raising her hands, seeming to be as unaffected by the bow and arrow laden girls as Thalia was. "But it's Bambi's mom that dies, also it's a shotgun that kills her, not an arrow."

"Are you sure?" Perseus asked, his amusement at her correcting him while being surrounded by pissed off girls slipping into his voice. When she nodded, he released a small disappointed groan. "Excuse me ladies," he called out and regretting it right away when they all turned their bows on him at once. "Um, never mind!"

"Calm your selves my hunters." Came a voice from the woods, followed by a girl the same age as Thalia and Perseus, making the latter groan audibly as he felt the same buzzing as he had felt from Hestia envelop him once more. Her hair was smoky-auburn and her skin was as pale as snow. Similar to the way Hestia's had when she had turned older; the girl's skin held brief sparks of silver that would appear randomly over her face and the rest of her body. And just as it had been before with Hestia, the girl's eyes drew him in more than any other beautiful part of her. They were a silvery yellow that reminded him of the moon and glowed just as much as the lunar orb did on a cloudless night.

"You boy," the girl called out, snapping Perseus out of his momentary stupor.

Looking over at Grover, he saw that the boy was as smitten with the girl as he was, though he was doing a better job of hiding it. "What are the chances that she's talking to Grover?" He asked Annabeth and Thalia.

Before either girl could make a remark, Grover had bounded forward waving his hand wildly in the air. "Me? Did you mean me, Lady Artemis?"

"No," she replied emotionlessly, crushing Grover's spirit as she did so. "I mean the one behind you. Boy, step forward!"

"Oh joy," he said, in a voice full of false happiness. "Yes, Lady Artemis?" He'd never say it aloud for her to hear, but the stunning girl before him was his other favorite goddess.

"Why is it," she said, in a dangerous voice as her eyes flashed threateningly, "that I smell my sister maiden Hestia's scent all over you?"

* * *

AN: So as you may have guessed Hestia and Artemis are options for the harem. So if nothing else, at least review to tell if you'd like that. While on reviews I'd like to say that if you guys could tell me if you like what you read. Last chapter had about half as many reviews as the one before it. I know that's my fault as I took so long to upload, but I would still appreciate knowing if you liked this. NO FLAMES! Next chapter they will get to camp.


	5. Ice Queen

**AN: Yes, I **_**am**_** an asshole. I'd like to apologize to those of you who enjoy this story... if there's any of you still out there willing to continue. I've been working on this chapter off and on since the last update over two months ago. I have no idea why this one was so hard for me - I had to rewrite it multiple times - and even after all that I'm still not a hundred percent on this one. Just know next chapter **_**will**_** come much faster than this one.**

**Just a heads up, there will be no old speech for Zoe. That crap is too hard to write.**

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Across the ground around them spread a thick layer of frost that was quickly turning into a sheet of solid ice. The trees immediately surrounding the two groups had gained long thin icicles that threatened to snap the smaller branches under the sudden added weight. Every breath taken left a lasting mark on the air; it was as if they were no longer in New York with less than a week before summer break, rather it felt like a harsh early January morning.

Until now, Perseus had been unaware that the moon goddess had any control over ice, but as a wave of the substance stopped just inches away from him and his group, it was very clear to all that Artemis was the one controlling it.

"I'll ask only once more, _boy_!" Perseus felt his temper rise at the beautiful girl's use of the word 'boy.' "Tell me why her scent is on you, or I'll give my hunters the right to do with you as they please." Perseus glanced at each of the gathered hunters to see them all giving him and Grover looks that spoke volumes about what they would do if they were to get the 'go ahead' from their mistress.

He couldn't stop the exasperated sigh that escaped him as he dropped his arms that had previously been raised in a sign of surrender. "Why in the hell does everyone have to talk about how I smell?" Perseus turned to look at Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover. "Is it that I smell bad, or is it that everyone involved with the hidden Greek world just so happens to have trouble with olfactophilia?"

"What?" Thalia asked looking bewildered by the word.

"Olfactophilia," Annabeth repeated, a small smile gracing her small pink lips. "It's a sexual perversion; a person who has it has a fetish for smells."

It became apparent right away that the now laughing Thalia and the uncomfortable looking Grover hadn't been the only ones to hear what the word meant. All around them growls from the group of female hunters could be heard.

"How _dare_ you accuse Lady Artemis of such vile behavior?" One of the group had taken an angry step forward, as she bellowed at a confused Perseus.

"Die swine!" The large beefy girl unleashed the arrow she had stringed in her deadly-looking bow, straight for his heart.

There would have been no time for the son of Poseidon to move out of the way of the approaching arrow. He only had time to see the look of alarm on the face of the moon goddess before a blur jumped in front of him and the arrow meant for his heart.

Thalia was only just able to get her shield, Aegis, in front of the speeding projectile and bat it harmlessly away. The sight of Medusa's face on the front of Aegis caused the entire group facing them to flinch, the exceptions being Artemis and the girl Perseus had thought looked like a Persian princess.

"Phoebe! I did not give an order to fire that arrow!" Artemis had turned her golden eyes onto the one who had just tried and nearly succeeded in killing Perseus. "If you can't control yourself in the proper manner, then you will stay with the youngest of our group, back at camp tending to the wolves."

"But Lady Art-" Phoebe tried pleading with the goddess who appeared to be so young, looking heartbroken about being called out by her mistress, but to no avail.

"Enough! Leave us!" Artemis ordered, cutting the girl off. Sending Perseus a glare that promised pain, Phoebe turned and marched into the woods. "Now then," the goddess said, turning her attention back to him and his group, "tell me why it is that Hestia's scent is on you, like Aphrodite's would be on any male? If you continue to not answer my question, I'll have to assume the worst."

Perseus felt his anger skyrocket as he took in the meaning of what Artemis was suggesting. He had no idea why, he only knew he felt a deep need to protect the flame goddess and her honor - and that what the stunning girl before him had said had hit a nerve with him.

"I'm sorry," Perseus said, chuckling without any real amusement in his voice. "I don't think I heard you correctly. It sounded to me as if you were implying that Lady Hestia had broken her vow." As he spoke he reached out and pulled Thalia behind him at the same time as he took a step forward.

Artemis was slightly taken aback by the steel in the boy's voice, but refused to show any weakness to a male. "What else am I to assume when you continuously refuse to answer my questions? To not answer my question is the act of a guilty person."

"I haven't refused anything, _yet_. What has happened is that one of your girl scouts here heard something that she misconstrued and threw a hissy fit as a result." Perseus knew that his words could very well get him killed, but at the moment he was going to defend Hestia's name and honor, even if it was the last thing he did. "But since you're a _goddess_ it must look bad on you if you're wrong, so allow me to aid you in your quest to always be right. I _refuse_ to tell you what it is that Lady Hestia came to me for, as I don't see how it's any of your business what she does. Especially when you insinuate that she has broken a vow she has kept longer than you have been alive."

By now Grover's knees were shaking as he stared straight at the moon goddess, looking for any sign that she was going to attack. And she surely would after being spoken to in such a fashion, and by all beings a _male_. Annabeth and Thalia were looking to Perseus in shock. The steel in his voice and the readiness in which he had jumped to the goddess' defense was both frightening and awe inspiring.

If Artemis had been shocked before it was nothing compared to what she was experiencing now. This young male had spoken down to her, a goddess of the ruling twelve, as if she was a misbehaving child. The last male to do so was her father and she only let him do so because he was the ruler of all the gods. And yet, even if he was a male, she found herself respecting the amount of courage it took for him to stand up to her - it didn't hurt that he was doing so for one of her closest friends. Had it been any other goddess he had stood up for in such a way, she would have assumed the goddess in question had ensnared him in some form, but Hestia was as pure as she was and Artemis knew without a doubt that Hestia would never use anyone, male or female, in such a manner.

Before Artemis could speak, one of her hunters lowered her bow, sneering at the boy as she did so. "Do not speak of things you know not! Lady Artemis took the vow well before Lady Hestia did. If you're going to speak to a goddess, Lady Artemis no less, then get your facts straight first!" After snapping at Perseus the girl sent him a superior, victorious look.

"Maybe you should check your facts _little girl_," Perseus sneered back. "Hestia is the older sibling of not only Zeus, but Hades, Poseidon, Demeter and Hera. Meaning she has maintained her virtue longer than _any_ of the Olympians have existed. And unlike Lady Artemis who became a virgin goddess because she feared the act of childbirth, Hestia did so in a selfless act to bring peace between Apollo and Poseidon. Both of whom were on the verge of war to see who would gain her hand in marriage - _neither_ of the fools, had enough brains in their heads to realize that she didn't desire either of them."

Silence filled the park after Perseus had finished saying his peace. He truly hoped that all of the information he had given was a part of what the mortals had gotten right. Otherwise, he may have just gotten himself killed by spouting off incorrect information.

"Perseus," Grover whined, breaking the silence as he pulled on his friend's shirt. "Insulting gods in front of one is bad enough, but did you have to bring up the reason why this one took her vow of virtue?" Anyone with half a mind should have known that pointing out a god or goddess' weakness to them was a sure fire way to get killed... or worse.

Perseus shook his friend's hand off before he continued to speak. "It's my advice that if you really want to know what Lady Hestia came to me for, you go ask her yourself." With nothing further to say he turned to leave, hoping as he did so that one of the hunters wouldn't put an arrow in his back. "Come on guys, we have to get moving if we ever want to make it to camp."

"Wait where you are," Artemis ordered, it shocked everyone, however, when she spoke without any traces of anger in her voice. "You say that the four of you are traveling to Camp Half-Blood, correct?"

Perseus looked to his three friends to see if they knew where the goddess was going with her question, but found them all still a little unsettled by his disagreement with Artemis and her bow carrying maidens. Sighing deeply, as he was drained from all that had been thrown at him in the past thirty minutes, he answered. "We would be, if we could go but five minutes without running into those who want to kill us... mainly me."

"Then my hunters will travel with you." Perseus made to object, but was cut off when the Persian princess beat him to it.

"But Lady Artemis, we cannot travel with two... _males_." The way she said the word made it sound dirty and vile. "And what of you my Lady, will you make us travel with them alone?"

"A meeting of the gods has been called that I must go to," Artemis informed her hunters. "While I'm away, I will go to Hestia and find out what the motive behind her actions was. I know not when I'll be back, and that is why you will all go to the camp."

"My Lady, I find this decision an unwise one. After the way he has spoken to not only my sisters, but you, it is beyond me to see either of the males making it to Half-Blood Hill alive." Perseus could only raise a disbelieving eyebrow as murmurs of agreement traveled through the group of hunters. "Furthermore, we would have to travel through heavily populated towns and cities to reach our destination, since we would be without your ability to connect all wooded areas. Our numbers alone would draw unwanted attention and place my sisters into further contact with members of the opposite sex."

Perseus was amazed by the girl's cool use of logic and her willingness to disagree with her mistress. "She must really hate the thought of traveling with us, Grover." Said boy nodded, but quickly stopped when he saw that both Artemis and the girl look at them.

"His words hold truth to them, my Lady." The girl admitted, though it looked to pain her to do so.

Artemis looked between the girl and Perseus for a time, an unreadable look gracing her stunning features, before slowly giving a small nod. Reaching out she took the girl by the shoulder, as a mother would her daughter when about to bestow life altering advice. Needless to say, it was a strange sight to see a twelve-year-old act in such a manner to a girl who appeared to be a year or so older than her current appearance.

"Zoe, you are the most trusted of my hunters. Your bow has been by my side for many a full moon, and far longer than any of your current sisters." The now identified girl seemed to swell with pride as the goddess spoke. "That is why I will ask of you, what I would not your sisters. I need you to go with them to the camp and keep an eye on the boy for me. If it does come to pass that he has aided Hestia in breaking her vow, or has acted in an unfavorable manner toward her, I will be coming for his head. Until I know what my actions will be, you will keep him under your constant watch!"

A silence filled the park that wasn't broken until Perseus spoke. "_Um_, not no, but _hell_ no! We have four people right now; any more would be an unlucky number." Annabeth opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by him whispering to her and the other two. "Yes Annabeth, I know four isn't truly a lucky number. I'm just trying to keep Grover and myself from suddenly sprouting arrows from our ass cheeks." The other three thought his comment funny, Perseus, however, had meant every word of it. The way the female hunters were glaring at him, left little doubt in his mind that if they were to accompany them on their journey, then he and Grover would experience an unfortunate hunting accident of some type.

"That's why I'm sending Zoe with you," Artemis said, halting the others' laughing as they realized she had heard his words. "She will follow my orders, even if she doesn't agree with them. Will you not, Zoe?" She asked turning to look at the dark-skinned beauty.

"Yes, my Lady," Zoe nodded stone-faced. "I shall go pack my things at once."

"Uh, hello," Perseus called out, stopping Zoe from moving and turning the attention back to himself, "male with an idea here! If I understood what Zoe said, then why not let us," he gestured to the others and himself, "travel with you through the forest-connection... thingy, that you have? Would we not get there faster that way?" Artemis was nodding before he had finished speaking.

"That is an acceptable proposal. But be warned; do not lag behind once we set out. To become lost while traveling as my hunters and I do, would be fatal for all those present, myself excluded." Giving her warning she turned and headed for the woods, her hunters closely following her lead.

"Why is it that I get the feeling she wouldn't be too upset if I were to get lost?" Perseus asked, looking to his friends while ignoring all the glares he was receiving from the hunters. "Or better yet, why in the hell did I suggest us traveling with them, when I can tell how much her girls want me dead?" Thalia reached up and patted him on the head.

"Just count yourself lucky that you're not dead, or a jackalope," she informed him, as she and the others made for where the hunters and their mistress had disappeared into the woods. Since they were already moving they each failed to see Perseus' questioning look. "I've heard of people suffering Lady Artemis' wrath for far less than what you did here today," the punk princess called out over her shoulder to him.

"I was thinking the same thing," Annabeth commented, stepping into the tree line. "I think the only reason she didn't punish him for his disrespectful words and tone, was that he was attempting to defend one of her closest friends."

"Was there any real chance of me ending up as mythological bunny-deer?" Perseus didn't know if it would be cooler, or scarier to be a rabbit with antlers... cooler, definitely cooler, he decided.

Thalia chuckled. "Actually, there was! Artemis likes to turn men who draw her ire into Jackalopes." She glanced back at him, her gaze lingering over him before she nodded approvingly. "You'd be alright; you'd definitely make a cute bunny-deer!"

"I'm happy to have your approval," he commented dryly, making the others laugh at him.

The quartet stopped all talking once they entered a clearing where groups of tents were set up in a loose circle. The campsite was buzzing with activity; the group of solely female hunters was busy doing all manner of chores and duties that had become second nature to them during their time as part of the goddess' pseudo daughters.

Perseus smiled when he spotted a small gathering of little girls, the oldest of which, a cute curly-haired blonde that reminded him of Annabeth, was showing the others how to safely play with the wolf cubs as the parents of the pups watched on.

"It's peaceful, in a hectic sort of way." Grover, Thalia, and Annabeth nodded their agreement as they gazed at the activity taking place around them.

"Excuse me."

Perseus and his group turned to find Zoe standing behind them looking at the four of them expectantly.

"You three can sit by the fire and wait until camp is packed up. It's normally a fast process, but at the moment we have a number of obligations we must tend to before we move on. As for you," she said, turning to Perseus, "I'd like you to follow me until it's time for us to leave."

He quirked an inquiring eyebrow at her. "I was under the impression that you couldn't stand me - why would you want me to follow you around?"

"Even though we will be traveling with my Lady and sisters, I have yet to be relieved of the mission my Lady has set forth for me. As it is, I have duties that I must complete before we leave this place, and it would help a great deal if you were to cooperate with me by staying where I can keep an eye on you."

"I'm fine with that... I'm not going to be attacked because I'm following you, am I?"

"Are you suggesting that I'd break an order given to me by Lady Artemis?" While it was clear she was better tempered than the rest of her sisters, her dislike for males was just as strong as the rests'.

"No," he denied, sounding exasperated, "however, can't you see how your quick-to-anger sisters might see me following you around as me trying to hit on you? I've already had four people try and kill me today; you'll have to forgive me if I'm not eager to add to that number."

Crossing her arms under her small breasts she unknowingly pushed them up, adding a rather sexy emphasis to her chest, as her midnight colored gaze bore into his sea-foam green eyes. It took all of his will power not to glance down at her budding chest, or what had once been her budding chest - now that she was frozen at age thirteen, her body having matured as far as it ever would. Nonetheless, to a hormonal teenage boy, he needed little excuse to want to trail down her body with his gaze.

"Fine." Perseus sighed, throwing his right hand up as he ran the other through his hair. "But if I get killed I'm going to come back and haunt you and all your sisters. It doesn't matter if you're using the bathroom, or cleaning your tree hugging granny panties, I'm going to be hanging over your shoulder moaning like Grover on enchiladas." Zoe's glare had shifted to a dry look that bordered on condescending, succeeding in merely annoying Perseus.

"If your words come to pass we will only have ourselves to blame." Before Perseus could form any type of response she had turned her back on him and walked away.

"And to think, she's never had a boyfriend." Perseus snarked sarcastically, marching after the man-hating beauty.

IDC:LT

"Hold on you three," Perseus said, bringing Grover, Thalia, and Annabeth to a stop, and their focus onto himself. They watched inquisitively as the impressive black blade they had only seen once before appeared in the hand of the son of Poseidon.

Spinning the onyx shaded sword skillfully in hand, Perseus sliced through a length of thin cord that was tied between two trees, hidden by a clever combination of the dense underbrush of the forest they were traveling through and the darkness of the hour. It was clearly placed where no one would see it - an attempt to trip its creator's desired target. From what Perseus was guessing, it was made to send _him_ headfirst into the giant fallen log just a few feet ahead.

"Phoebe's work no doubt." Perseus noted offhandedly, bending down to examine the thread he had cut. It was one of many he had 'come across' during the past nine days they had spent with the moon goddess and her hunters.

While all the other huntresses had settled with merely glaring frostily at him, Phoebe, the same large, beefy girl who had attempted to shoot him in the heart with an arrow, had tried everything in her power to harm him. From petty pranks to serious threats to his life, she had tried it all - snares aimed at tripping him and breaking his ankles, 'accidental' miss-shots with her bow, attempting to push him into the campfire on more than one occasion, and trying to impale him with a sword the time she witnessed him practicing with his bronze blade and offered to help by starting a 'surprise spar.' Everything she had attempted so far had failed, adding to her dislike of him and the danger that came with her next 'prank.'

Perseus had kept his head about him so far, knowing that even if he were to retaliate for justified reasons, that he'd more than likely earn the wrath of every female he was traveling with, bar Annabeth and Thalia. The danger of letting his anger flow freely aside, he wasn't sure how much more he could take lying down. It was well known to those who had attempted to bully him in the past that he wasn't the type to put up with people _trying_ to push him around, and yet, thanks to Thalia, Grover and Annabeth - and the amount of time they had spent teaching him how to handle a blade - he had managed to keep from testing how the robust huntress faired against someone who favored dual-wielding swords.

Seeing that the huntresses were steadily pulling away from their small group, the foursome started after them, Artemis' warning about getting lost fresh in their minds.

"I don't see why you simply don't inform Lady Artemis of Phoebe's actions," Annabeth asserted, her distaste of the girl and her attempts to harm him melting into her voice.

Raising his sword, he tapped the flat of the blade against his chest. "It's doubtful that if it came down to my word versus hers, that I'd be taken seriously." All three of his companions started to respond that they would confirm that what he had to say was true, but were cut off when Perseus shook his head, giving them a thankful smile.

"The hunters' and their Lady's prejudice of my sex isn't the only the reason I've yet to say anything to Artemis, or even Zoe for that matter. If I were to run off and tattle-tell it'd be the same as if I were to lick Phoebe's dirty boots - and I can assure you, she's the type to get as much enjoyment out of my admitting that she's gotten to me as she would the latter."

Annabeth, Thalia and Grover chose not to respond, being unable to find a fault in his logic. It was a very real possibility that if he were to go to Artemis about Phoebe, that the moon goddess might not believe him over one of her huntresses - that her well known hatred of men could cloud her judgment and what she chose to believe. However, while they could only speculate about Artemis' reaction to her hunter's behavior, none doubted Phoebe's. Annabeth and Thalia had met the large girl in the past and knew of her vindictive and sadistic nature - two traits that she had always been able to hide from Artemis and her sisters.

For a time silence hung between the four as they carefully treaded through the dense forest, it wasn't until the darkness around them had thickened to levels where they could barely see the group they were trailing behind, that the only other male present besides Perseus spoke.

"She is a daughter of Ares..." Grover admitted, giving a weak grimace as he stared off into space. Perseus glanced over to his friend, a crooked smile adorning his handsome features, surprise clear in his eyes.

"You're still on about that?" Reaching over he lightly patted the worry-prone satyr on the shoulder. "Calm down; Phoebe, nor any of her sisters, are going to bother you. Just keep your head down and I doubt they'll even notice you - probably be too busy glaring at me," he said chuckling.

"But," Grover objected weakly, gazing longingly at the barely visible figures ahead of them, "they're so..."

"Snobbish," Thalia offered, cutting into the conversation and Grover off.

"Bitchy," Perseus smiled, glancing over Grover's head at the daughter of Zeus, who smiled impishly back.

"Prissy."

"Virgin cultists."

"Immortal hippies with anger issues."

"In denial lesbians?" Perseus glanced over at Thalia to see the punk princess shaking in silent laughter, bumping into trees as she stumbled through the forest trying her best not to trip. At her side, Annabeth rolled her eyes, shaking her head disapprovingly, even though her soft-looking pink lips were turned up at the corners.

"No!" Grover hissed, red tinting his cheeks as his mind trailed off to places he'd rather it not go for the time being. "They're so into nature and pure..." Whether or not he meant to, Grover released a strange noise that was halfway between a moan of pleasure and a goat's bleat. "They're perfect!" Thalia snorted loudly and terribly unladylike, while Annabeth settled with eyeing the satyr incredulously.

"Says the masochistic goat," Perseus joked, earning an annoyed laugh from the boy. Before anymore could be said, the voice of the moon goddess drifted back to them cutting off all conversation, stealing not only Perseus' and his group's attention, but that of the entire traveling party.

"We'll be stopping here tonight, my hunters. Go ahead and start setting up camp," Artemis ordered in her soft, yet commanding, tone of voice, leaving them no chance to disagree. "Be warned, to the south of here lies a large, highly populated city. I would suggest that you all take precautions and do not wonder away from the rest of the group."

As the clearing came alive with the activity of the immortal maidens, Artemis continued undeterred. Fully aware that her huntresses were paying her as much attention as they worked, setting up their tents, preparing the fire, and creating an area for the wolves and their young to stay, as they would if they were sitting around her, seemingly enamored by her every word.

"When I return in the morning from my duties as goddess of the moon, we will set out for Half-Blood Hill and will arrive before noon. As you all know, I will be leaving you at the camp for a time. Until I return I expect you all to show the type of behavior that is expected of you as a representative of the Hunters of Artemis. _Do_ _not_ bring shame on yourselves, or your sisters. Do not bring shame onto me."

As Artemis commanded the attention of her huntresses, Perseus and Grover had set to work on their own tent, one that had been provided for them to use during their time with the Hunters of Artemis.

"Looks as if I'll finally get to see this camp you and the girls have been telling me so much about," Perseus commented lightly, driving the final stake that held the tent in place deeply into the earth.

When Grover didn't answer him or respond in any way, he looked to his friend, only to find him staring longingly at the hunters as they worked on setting up the camp.

Perseus released a deep sigh as he took in the number of glares and sneers the satyr was receiving, not that the boy himself actually noticed. It was quite obvious that Grover lacked any type of tact when it came to dealing with the fairer sex, especially those of the huntress variety.

Reaching over, Perseus slapped the back of the satyr's head, sending the unprepared boy flying face first into the ground.

"If you don't want to die before the night ends, I suggest you put _it_ back in your pants..." He gained a pensive look as he pulled out his ever present music player and inserting his earbuds. "Or would it be more accurate to say, put it back in your _fur_?" Unbeknownst to Perseus or the now moaning satyr, Artemis and many of the hunters surrounding them, including a certain coal-eyed daughter of a Titan, were listening in on their conversation.

Sitting up, his head cradled in his hands, Grover glared at the son of Poseidon with watery eyes. "What in the underworld was that for?" he moaned, rubbing the back of his sore crown.

"You need to stop leering at every pretty face you see and start showing the hunters the respect they deserve" Perseus told him, leaning against a tree as he searched for a song he wanted to listen to. "It's starting to weird me out, and from the looks being sent your way, _piss them off_. Besides, aren't you supposed to be in love with a berry bush, or something?"

Grover had the decency to look abashed. "I do love Afina. I was just..."

"Harassing the hunters in their own home?"

"I-I didn't-"

"You kinda did - _are_," Perseus said, cutting him off, doing his best not to sound too chiding. "Out here in the woods is where they live... Away from the prying eyes of the world and modern society, but more than anything else, away from _men_. You and I are probably the only form of male contact that they've had for a long, long time, and with the way you've been gaping at them, I'm sure they're extremely uncomfortable and more than a little pissed off." he finished, clueless of how Artemis was staring at him.

By now the young satyr was completely red in the face and was refusing to look up from his lap, afraid he may meet the eyes of one of the huntresses, or worse, see a look of disappointment in the eyes of what had quickly become his closest and dearest friend.

Staring at his best friend with more than a little melancholy in his sea-foam shaded gaze, Perseus reached out and patted the older boy on the head. "Look, why don't you go crash for the night. The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner you'll get to see Afina again. _Who,_ by the way, I'm looking forward to meeting with once we reach camp."

Giving a small jerk of his head, Grover sent him a weak smile. "I think that's a good idea." Rising to his feet - hooves - he gave a small wave as he disappeared into their shared tent, not to be seen again until the next morning.

Unaware of the approving looks he was receiving from the female hunters around him, Perseus turned his music up as loudly as he could, enjoying the throbbing of the mini-speakers in his ears. Closing his eyes, he allowed the sound of one of his favorite bands drown out everything around him.

Nine days. Nine days of nothing but varying forest scenes, hiking through said forests, a handful of spars with the girls, and attempted assaults and _man_slaughter by a bear of a maiden. Nine days Perseus had been trailing along behind the group of immortal female warriors. And at the end of each of those nine days, the prospect of a rendezvous with something that would want to kill him (bear maidens excluded) was looking better and better.

While the constant moving had made him all the better at using a sword (who would have guessed learning to handle a blade, while avoiding falling over shrubbery and into traps, would help improve his sword-work as much as it had), it failed at keeping him and the other three from being bored out of their damn minds.

Perseus, Thalia, and at times Annabeth (when she wasn't reading one of the many books he had thought to bring with him), had taken to testing his abilities as they moved through the numerous forests they had traveled through. Grover had used the copious amount of free time he now found himself with as a chance to better his reed playing, much to the auditory distress of those around him.

With Annabeth's knowledge of the previous sons of Poseidon, they had tested his ability to use some of the better known _gifts _and abilities his half-siblings had possessed. They all knew he could control the earth around him - a feat that was beyond impressive for a son of the sea god, even though all he could really do was create widespread earthquakes (not the most inconspicuous of abilities) and at times of great emotional stress form spears that shot up from the earth. That said, everything else he had tried, involving bending the earth to his will at least, had failed to take off.

He had far more success when it came to accessing the abilities that were water-based, as opposed to those that were more along the lines of the children of Hades (controlling the earth). Annabeth had informed them that one particular son of Poseidon had been strong enough to call upon powerful and devastating storms, much like Thalia and former children of Zeus could do. His power had been _so_ great, that it had drawn Zeus' wrath. The King of the Gods had felt that the _lowly_ demigod had been encroaching upon _his_ territory, and, as a result, had seen to his punishment _personally_.

Needless to say, it had only taken Perseus the amount of time it required to nod at the now grinning daughter of Zeus standing next to him, for them to start on him trying to learn how to bend storms to his will. Annabeth had watched the two run off, muttering something incoherent under her breath. All that the two children of the big three had been able to decipher was 'impudent,' 'trouble makers,' and 'death wishes,' making them both laugh uproariously.

To their surprise, it hadn't been but a short time later that Perseus succeeded in calling down an outrageously strong storm, after receiving only a few small pointers from Thalia on the subject. High winds pushed and shoved their group in an attempt to throw them across the forest floor, rain that painfully lashed at their faces and pounded against their skulls, and, towards the end of it all, small icy balls of hail had been unleashed upon them. What had really surprised them, more so than the fact that Perseus had been able to do what only _one_ previous son of Poseidon had been capable of in the span of a few minutes time, was the sound of rumbling thunder that had shook the very ground the hunters had hastily erected their tents upon.

After earning a telling off from Annabeth for almost getting them killed (either by the storm, or Zeus almost discovering his parentage, Perseus and Thalia didn't strictly know) they had moved on to working with water exclusively. Though he had no one to guide him in its use, or any prior experience besides when he had called for the storm, Perseus had no trouble getting the water to do what he wanted it to. He could make water rise up and take any shape he pleased, completely stop the flow of a raging river and increase the speed of a stream, and could even heal his and others' injuries.

Some of the experiments he was envisioning he was afraid might hurt the wildlife, so he had taken to carrying around a number of bottles filled with water that he used for the sole purpose of pla- _working_ with. Doing so had led him to the discovery of his ability to increase and decrease the temperature of the life giving liquid. Whether it was freezing the water until it nearly burned those who touched the bottles containing the liquid, or making it boil so hot that the plastic melted around it; both were in his grasp - and if he was being honest with himself, he felt that he could have pushed both farther if presented with the chance and a suitable environment.

One thought that continued to play in his mind was how much water the human body actually contained, or a monster's or a God's body for that matter. If he pushed hard enough, was it possible for him to bend others to his will? Or boil/freeze them alive? This line of thought had disturbed him, though not as much as it had when he had been _hopeful_ that his ability to control water could extend to other liquids.

Could he control blood?

The only real drawback from using his abilities, besides how they all tended to draw the eye, was that they were taxing both mentally and physically. Thalia had informed him that this was a common occurrence for her when she used her powers to call on storms and lightning, but that with time and practice the aftereffects would lessen.

All in all, Perseus may have been bored out of his mind during his nine days spent with the Hunters of Artemis, but knew that he had gained a lot of experience as a result. Not only with his demigod powers, but in his control of his _hunger_ as well.

After being around not only Annabeth and Thalia, both of whom were mouthwatering to him, but also Zoe, who smelled as good as the first two, and Artemis - the moon goddess' scent was only outshined by Hestia's - he no longer felt as if he wanted to drain them dry. No, now he wanted to put his lips on the girls for entirely different reasons.

_Evil. Fucking. Hormones._ More fearsome than any monster...

Perseus was pulled away from his own little world by the weight of a small, warm body pressing shoulder-to-shoulder with his own. Knowing of only one person in the camp that would dare act so familiar and intimate and that also held a scent that was reminiscent of fresh rain, Perseus opened an amused eye to find himself staring into a pair of intense, electric-blue eyes.

Slowly, his other eye joined the first in opening, giving him a better view of the pretty features of the girl next to him, putting him on equal ground with the daughter of Zeus as she drank in his slightly angular features. Without breaking eye contact, Perseus handed over one of his music blaring earbuds, which she gladly took.

How long the two would have continued to stare at one another was unknown, and they would never know, as at that moment Zoe came up to them, effectively breaking the trance the two teens had found themselves in.

"My Lady would like to see you, Perseus."

Tearing his eyes away from his pretty friend, he looked to the equally beautiful huntress to see her looking annoyed. "Do you know what she wants of me?"

"It's not my place to question Lady Artemis, I simply do as is asked of me." she replied evenly.

Perseus raised an eyebrow when he noticed the distinct lack of contempt in the girl's voice that usually reared its head when she spoke to him, but shrugged it off as her attempting to avoid their normal back-and-forth so he could hurry on to her mistress.

"Where is she?" Pulling out his other earbud he handed it and his iPod to Thalia, as he rose to his feet and headed off in the direction the Titan daughter had pointed.

Zoe stood in front of the pixie-haired girl, watching her with an appraising eye. Eventually, it became too much for Thalia and she pulled an earbud out, gazing at the Persian-looking girl questioningly.

"Would you like to listen with me?"

Zoe continued to stare at her silently for a time. "Are you certain _he_ wouldn't mind my use of his property?"

"Perseus wouldn't mind, he's good about things like that." Thalia answered knowingly. "Plus, with how you've been staring at it since we started traveling with you and your sisters, it's clear you're interested in giving them a try."

Zoe's eyes narrowed a fraction, unaware of how the small change made her dark eyes look deadly. "I have not been _staring_ at them." she denied, sounding slightly upset.

Thalia sent her a knowing impish smile. "Is that so? Then what other reason would there be for you to stare at Perseus as much as you do? I had assumed it was because he almost always has them in," she said, holding up the music player. "If that's not the case, then what is?" The longer she spoke the smugger her tone became. It didn't help any that the more Zoe heard, the redder her dark skin became.

"_I do not stare at him!_" Zoe hissed, her eyes flashing dangerously. "And if I did, I would only do so as a requirement of watching him as a part of my Lady's orders."

Giggling slightly, Thalia held up her hands in surrender. "Do you want to listen or not?"

Eyes still narrowed, Zoe gave a small nod of the head. In one swift, fluid motion she was beside Thalia, taking the offered earbud. "Strange..." she muttered as she examined the tiny speakers. "I've lived for many a moon, and yet, I know very little about the current world and its many technologies." Placing the black and silver device in her ear she listened intently.

Slowly her nose scrunched up cutely, looking puzzled. "This is the music of today?" she asked, sounding unsure of what to think of what she was listening to.

"Not the only type, no." Thalia answered, slightly amused at her reaction. "This band is a Finnish rock group; the genre is referred to as 'love metal.' This type of music isn't really all that popular, unfortunately."

Zoe watched as Thalia fiddled with the device in her hand, connected to the music 'releaser' in her ear. Suddenly the music died away, leaving a silence that was far louder than the music. The question of 'why did it stop' was on the Titan daughter's lips, however, she stopped when Thalia spoke.

"Here, listen to it from the start," Thalia offered, sitting back and enjoying the sound of the lyrics and the melody as they flowed into her. "Listen to what it says - don't judge it too quickly. Who knows, you may come to enjoy it." Zoe nodded, feeling a tad uncertain.

Together the two sat against their tree and watched as the many huntresses went about busying themselves and finding ways to pass the time. Unknown to each other, listening to the music and people-watching weren't the only thing they had in common. Every few seconds electric-blue and onyx shaded eyes would glance off in the direction that Perseus had walked off in.

It was as one of her sisters passed her line of sight, as she gazed off after the green eyed boy, that Zoe realized what she was doing. Shaking her head, she silently chided herself for her abnormal behavior.

"What's the name of this piece?" she asked to distract herself, realizing as she did so that she was truly enjoying the song. Somehow, it was speaking to her in a way music from her own time never had.

"'The Funeral of Hearts." Zoe nodded, it was a fitting title.

Slowly time passed and the girls continued to sit in silence as song after song passed through the small speakers.

Thalia, who had closed her eyes some time before, opened them as a song she had never heard before came on. What she found made her eyes narrow. Zoe was staring off in the same direction she herself was meaning to look, with a fair bit of longing in her eyes. She was looking at where Perseus had disappeared to.

An intense wave of jealousy passed over the short-haired girl, making her want to grab the 'older' girl by the hair and make her look away, only for it to pass as quickly as it came. '_Even if she did like him, there's no way she would turn her back on the vow she took so long ago._'

"So," Thalia said, drawing the eyes of her current music listening companion. "Is it still a part of your duty to watch him when he's with your Lady?"

IDC:LT

Artemis was pulled from her private musing by the sound of light, but still noticeable, footsteps. Turning away from the crescent moon that hung high above her, she turned to find the young male demigod that she had called for, approaching, looking as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"You summoned me, Lady Artemis?" he asked, as he sidestepped a tree and walked into the small clearing she was standing in.

She eyed him curiously as he came to a stop an arm's length away. "I did..." Her silvery-yellow eyes that _so_ reminded him of a full moon, bored into his own, a burning intensity in their depths that made him want to turn away.

Perseus was consumed by an overwhelming feeling that she was trying to peer into his very soul with her sharp intelligent orbs. Though he was able to keep a lax 'air' about him, he was quickly losing himself - his mind flooded with visions of her angelic visage as brief sparks of silver danced across her exposed skin, his head swimming as his nostrils filled with her beyond tempting scent; trees covered in dew, that somehow managed to mix with a frosty early morning wind and... cherries. Both she and her scent were highly delectable to him.

"I called for you so I could thank you for your help with the satyr." she said, surprising the son of Poseidon. "I have given my hunters orders not to instigate an altercation of any kind with you, or any of your companions. Had the boy continued to leer at them the way he was, I would not have been able to guarantee his continued safety. Thank you."

Perseus chuckled lightly, shaking his head softly as he did so. This was done as more of a way to clear his head of the overload of moon goddess he was experiencing than it was from amusement.

"And here I thought you were going to kill me or turn me into one of the legendary bunny-deer, I've been hearing so much about." He paused to chuckle again, not expecting to see the small smile that the goddess gained at the mention of her love of the jackalope punishment.

His stomach gained a strange flipping feeling as he watched her lips that made him press on. "You're welcome, I guess," he said, sounding unsure of himself. By the time he had finished speaking the smile that had graced her lips seconds before had vanished, making Perseus want to mourn its absence.

"Thanking you on mine and my huntresses' behalf isn't the only reason I've called you here. I also wanted to know if you had changed your mind as to whether or not you'd divulge why it was that Hestia's scent was upon you?" She gazed at him expectantly, but knew right away she would not receive the answers she desired.

"I'm sorry Lady Artemis, but if you want to know why she came to me, then you know how to get your answers." he replied firmly. "I would not - could not, disrespect her by betraying her trust. I'm sure you understand." His eyes had taken on a pleading look, hoping she would drop the subject altogether.

"I do," Artemis nodded, her tone surprisingly understanding. She became silent for a time. Perseus was seconds away from breaking said silence, when the goddess beat him to it. "I know _who_ your father is."

Perseus' eyes widened before quickly narrowing. His hands itched - begging and calling for his swords, so he might protect himself if the goddess before him decided to drag him before her and Thalia's father. The only reason he didn't make his swords appear was that her use of ice would, without a doubt, be more powerful than anything he could do.

He didn't reply, instead he stared at her unblinkingly. Ready to move at a moment's notice.

"Calm yourself," she ordered in an impassive tone. It was enough to make him snort.

"Yes, because I've found having a goddess who hates men, know that you're not supposed to exist, is the best way to relax," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm not going to inform my father." This brought Perseus up short.

"You're not... Why?"

"Hestia."

"You've lost me."

"Hestia can see an individual's past, present, and depending on the choices one makes, future family. She would have known that you were _his_ son. And yet, despite knowing she would be punished for keeping you a secret from my father, she kept you hidden. Not only from the King of the Gods, but the entirety of the council of twelve."

Perseus winced. "Lady Hestia could come to be in trouble over me?" Artemis nodded.

"Why would she risk herself for me?" he asked in a tone that sounded as if he was in pain. "For that matter, why would you risk yourself for me? A _male_!"

"Hestia has always been a good judge of character. I've always known if I could trust someone by how she acted when in their presence." she informed him. "Knowing I could trust her, I watched you and how you interacted with those around you in an attempt to see if you were trustworthy."

"I'm guessing since you're not turning me over to your father that you found me worthy of your trust?"

"Correct," she answered, giving a small nod. "I have found you to be unlike the rest of the male species - that you are in fact a _good_ man. You defended Hestia's honor, even when threatened with death. While my huntresses were not looking, you would help around the camp - attempting to make things easier on everyone. While your satyr companion would leer like a dog in heat at my huntresses, you showed them the proper respect they deserve, even when they did not deserve it."

Perseus knew right away what she had meant by her last statement. "I-"

"Did not retaliate against Phoebe, even after continued attacks against you. I admit that I did nothing to halt her childish and petty, yet often dangerous actions. I did nothing in an attempt to see if your kind nature would continue even when tested repeatedly."

"It was on the day I was going to come to you, to thank you for your continued patience and to inform you that Phoebe would be punished accordingly, that I witnessed you call down that storm. After that I watched you continuously - my original intention for seeking you out forgotten. I had to figure out who your father was." Perseus released a deep sigh at that.

"I knew you were a good man, who did not deserve to die simply because of who your father was. That is why I will keep silent about your lineage, and will continue to do so until who you are comes to light."

"It's good to know that that's how you found out _whose_ son I am. For a second there I was worried that gods and goddesses could tell who your godly parent is just by being near the person in question." He smiled charmingly at her, happy that she wasn't going to drag him to his death. Soon, however, his smile slowly slid away, a look of puzzlement taking its place. "Is that why it's taken us so long to get to camp - you buying yourself time, so you could figure out who I am?"

"No," she answered him, as her eyes took on a distant look. "After living for as long as my generation of immortals have, the concept of time and how fast and/or slow it moves is vastly different than it is to those of demi-blood and mortals. For instance, the meeting my father called for, that I spoke of the day you joined us, has yet to take place and may not take place for some time."

Silence fell between the two in which Perseus thought over how it must feel to be as... _experienced_ in living as the gods were.

"I must leave soon, the moon is calling to me," Artemis said mystically, breaking him from his musing. "Know that I will pass down a suitable punishment for Phoebe's actions. Not only has she tried to harm an innocent, but has broken a direct order from myself... I will _not_ be disobeyed." To the young demigod it felt as if her words were wrapped in the very ice he had once seen her control during their first encounter. It was strangely... attractive. Not that there was anything about the lunar goddess he found unattractive, he quickly realized.

"Understood..." Running a hand through the portion of his hair that was longer than the rest, his gaze trailed after the small random burst of silver that appeared across her skin.

"Goodnight, Perseus Jackson." Artemis turned from him and started for a faintly glowing silver chariot that stood proudly behind her. Tethered to it by bridles made of the same type of silver as the chariot were four large handsome deer with antlers made entirely of gold. Where the animals and sleigh came from was as much a mystery to him as that of how they had appeared without his noticing.

"Safe journey, Lady A," Perseus whispered, as she climbed aboard the chariot, taking the reins in hand. "Thank you for taking such a risk for one like me."

He wasn't sure why he said what he did next, but by the time he realized what words were passing his lips, it was too late to stop them. "It makes me genuinely happy knowing my favorite of the ruling twelve doesn't hate me for simply being alive." the smile that accompanied his words was as fragile as any Artemis had ever seen in all her many years.

Reins still in hand, her faithful companions stood at the ready for her gentle, yet firm tug of command; she stood watching the young _abnormal_ demigod, his gaze mirroring her own.

The loaded silence that had descended between them was finally broken when one of the logs in the fire, way back at the campsite, snapped from the heat of the flames that were engulfing it. Though they were quite a distance away, both heard the snapping of the log perfectly.

"Goodnight, my Lady."

"Pleasant dreams... Perseus"

Giving the reins she was gripping with more force than was strictly necessary a sharp pull, the bucks took off in a sprint, pulling her and her chariot into the sky, leaving a brilliant, but quickly fading trail of silver in their wake.

IDC:LT

Perseus reentered the ring of the campsite just in time to witness Zoe storm off from where he had previously been sitting, leaving behind Thalia, who was somehow managing to look both smug and upset. Shaking his head at the girl's antics, he swiftly crossed the distance separating the two, being careful not to draw the ire of any of the huntresses.

"You're about as much trouble as I am." Plopping down against the tree and leaning against her more than he strictly needed to, he reached across her and stole the earbud from her opposite ear. "It's probably why we get along so famously. You know, similar to the old adage 'thick as thieves'."

The slight scowl she had been wearing before his arrival disappeared instantly, a mischievous smirk appearing upon her shiny lips. "So now we're going to be thieves, huh?" Placing a hand to her chin, she took on a mock pensive look. "We certainly have the reflexes for such a lifestyle."

Perseus nodded sagely. "And we already know you can pull off the amount of black required to be a cat-burglar," he quipped, earning a light punch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her dainty eyebrow rose menacingly.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," he defended, his voice light with his amusement. "I like your punk-princess look - it's..."

"It's what?" she asked dryly.

"You really want to know?" he asked her seriously.

Thalia quickly nodded.

He could just spot the sliver of uncertainty in her eyes, it made his next words all the easier. "Very... _attractive_." His tone became thicker as his gaze met hers.

Thalia blushed, the red mixing with the scattering of freckles across her nose, making her all the more beautiful to Perseus. "You paused before answering," she accused, trying to distract him from her flush.

"Only because I felt it would be tacky, or even corny, to talk about how _hot _I think you are." He chuckled when he saw her lips quirk. "Besides, many of the words I think of when trying to describe you would more than likely get me castrated by our current traveling companions."

Thalia's laughter filtered across the camp, drawing attention to her as she buried her face in Perseus' shoulder while attempting to stifle her giggles. Her actions drew more than a few disapproving huffs and narrow-eyed glares.

Hit with a sudden reminder of what Artemis had said to the group at large earlier, Perseus leaned down, his eyes full of mirth; a pleasant aftereffect of her tinkling laughter, earning himself a tantalizing whiff of the fresh rain smell that was her scent as a result.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?"

* * *

**AN: So yes I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but there is a reason for this. I had to end this one where I did because **_**so**_** much is about to happen. I won't go into any details, but I will leave you with the title for the next chapter. "The First Taste." **

**Before I end this chapter I'd like to thank Joe Lawyer for beta'ing not only this chapter but **_**all**_** the others as well. And finally Hestia **_**will**_** be in the harem, bringing it to Thalia-Annabeth-Zoe-Bianca-Hestia. I'm hesitant about bringing Artemis in, but if you guys can give me a good reason for her to be in the pairing - and no I don't mean something like 'Artemis/Percy pairing is the best' - then I'll consider it. So Review! Let me know what ya think!**


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